On March 5,  as reported by the New York Law Journal,[1] for the first time in New York State history, an all-women panel of justices convened over appellate arguments in the Appellate Term, First Department.[2] Further, all three justices are women of color, marking the first time an Asian Pacific American, Latina and African-American justice comprised a panel. I proudly sat as presiding justice alongside my colleagues Justice Lizbeth González and Justice Carol Edmead on that momentous day, coincidentally assembled during this Women’s History Month.

To be sure, the occasion signified an important day in our state’s history, and we owe much to our female predecessors in the Appellate Term, and in all courts, upon whose shoulders we now stand. Regrettably, my view from the bench into the audience of attorneys on that historic morning failed to display the same picture of intersectional diversity. When the calendar call began, I noticed something remarkable: All but one of the attorneys who argued on that day were men, and all were white.