Albany City Court Judge Helena Heath, at podium, addresses issues at a forum on judicial diversity with, from left, Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Stein, Albany Family Court Judge Richard Rivera, Appellate Division, Second Department, Justice Cheryl Chambers and Northern District Judge Mae D’Agostino at the New York State Bar Association in Albany on Tuesday.
Each of the five judges offered practical advice for attorneys seeking judgeships, saying their routes to the bench were helped by their involvement in bar associations, starting early in their careers; by meeting prominent lawyers and judges through bar committees; and by getting to know local political leaders. “We have to get in those circles which influence those decision-makers” who decide judicial candidates, Chambers said. D’Agostino said collegiality at every step of her legal career eased the way to her eventual selection and confirmation to the U.S. District Court in 2011.
