The Honorable Cheryl E.Chambers is a trailblazing jurist anda distinguished leader in New York’s legal community. 

Justice Chambers has served on NewYork State’s courts for more than 20 years. In 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomoappointed her to a senior seat on the Appellate Division of the New YorkSupreme Court, Second Judicial Department. She is the first African Americanwoman to serve in that capacity, and the second African American womanappointed to the Appellate Division.

Previously, she served on the NewYork City Civil Court Judge from 1995 to 1998, sitting in both the CriminalCourt and the Civil Court in New York County and on the New York State SupremeCourt from1999 to 2008, where she presided over high-profile, complex criminalmatters. In 2008, she was designated an Associate Justice for the AppellateDivision, Second Judicial Department by Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Prior to her judicial service, JusticeChambers was an assistant district attorney in the Trial and Appeals Bureaus in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office (1985-1994). She heldvarious roles of increasing responsibility rising to become Chief of theDomestic Violence Bureau after serving as a Deputy Chief in the Trial Division.

 Off thebench, Justice Chambers is Vice President and a director the New York BarFoundation, the philanthropic arm of the New York State Bar Association.Justice Chambers is also a member of the State Bar’s House of Delegates andFinance Committee. Since 2010, she has been a member of the State Bar’sCommittee on Diversity and Inclusion advocating for diversity and inclusion inthe legal profession and, a member of the Executive Committee of the CriminalJustice Section. She is also a Past Chair of the State Bar’s Judicial Sectionand the Council of Judicial Associations (2018-2019). 

Inaddition, she has served in leadership positions in many professionalassociations including the Metropolitan Black Bar Association where she servedas Chair of the Board of Directors, the Brooklyn Women's Bar Association, theJudicial Friends and the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State ofNew York. As a member New York County Lawyers Association’s Committee onMinorities and the Law, for decades she has assisted law students prepare for acareer in law. She has also served on the advisory boards of a number ofnon-profit organizations including the New York Children’s Defense Fund andGirls for Gender Equity.

 Justice Chambers is a frequent lecturer and has publishednumerous writings on a wide range of legal subjects including criminal law andprocedure, evidence, domestic violence, commercial litigation, trial andappellate practice.

 Justice Chambers has beenrecognized with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Trail Blazer Award of the New YorkState Bar Association, the Trail Blazer Award and the Award for OutstandingAchievement in Jurisprudence of the Brooklyn Bar Association, the Golda MeirMemorial Award of the Jewish Lawyers Guild, the Jurist of the Year Award for the Metropolitan Black Bar Association andshe served as the Distinguished Jurist in Residence at Hofstra UniversitySchool of Law.