Her Story
About Elizabeth
I've been practicing law since 1990, starting my career with job offers from Brooklyn DA and Manhattan Legal Aid Society. Due to a hiring freeze in New York City and the pressure of student loans, I needed to find a job quickly and began my career in family law, dealing with abuse and neglect cases in family court. After about 5 years there, I moved to an opportunity with the New York City Police Department as an advocate. From there, I took on quasi-judicial positions, serving as an administrative law judge with the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance with New York State, where I determined eligibility for continued public assistance. In 1998, I became a support magistrate with New York County and Kings County family courts, holding hearings on paternity, child support, enforcement of orders, and serving in the domestic violence part. In 2019, I became a special referee in Supreme Court of New York County, hearing trials on matrimonial cases as well as commercial matters, a position I held until November 2023. At that point, I became Deputy Chief Court Attorney in Supreme Court, where I supervised about 50 court attorneys and referees and was immersed in the operations of court procedures in the courthouse. In November 2024, I was elected to the civil court bench, and since January 1, 2025, I sit in New York County Criminal Court, handling arraignments and all-purpose parts. I'm proud to be one of two Mexican-American judges elected to the bench in New York State, alongside Judge Crystal Villasenora. We were both elected in November 2024 and started the same year. Throughout my career, I've worked to integrate the community with the courts through programs that bring in interns from law school, undergraduate college, and high school into the system. I've done moot courts to help the public gain knowledge of how the court system operates and to provide opportunities for students to see if they would be interested in working in this area of law. I love what I do, and it would be great to see someone come up and enjoy it as much as I have. Giving a voice to people to be heard in court is really important to me.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elizabeth
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think the biggest challenge is finding the balance, especially if they want to be mothers and have children, because if they wanted to get to the point of being a judge, there's a lot of work that is entailed in that. You have to go to events and make sure that you become familiar with different areas of law, and that can impede on your family life at times. Finding the work-family balance, or even as the newer generation is putting it, the work and life balance, is the more difficult thing. I do think that making sure that you have a life outside of work is just as important as having a work life. I was a single mom because my husband died when my son was young, and just being there and making sure I was there for my son was just as important as being at my job.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Giving a voice to people to be heard in court is really important to me. I think trying to integrate the community with the courts has been one of my greatest achievements. I love what I do, and for me, it would be great to see someone come up and enjoy it as much as I have. Making sure that you have a life outside of work is just as important as having a work life. Being there for my son was just as important as being at my job.
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