Hon. Michelle Weston in her chambers at the Kings Supreme Court. Photo: Ryland West/ALM

For over 30 years, Justice Michelle Weston has dutifully served the people of Kings County as a Supreme Court Justice of the State of New York. While her accomplishments during that time may be unsung to many, they ring loudly to all who have known her. Justice Weston began her judicial career in 1989, when she was appointed to serve as a judge in the Criminal Court of the City of New York. The following year, she earned the distinction of being the first African-American woman elected to Supreme Court, Kings County, where she presided over criminal, matrimonial, guardianship and medical malpractice trials. While she was proud of that accomplishment, it did not come without obstacles. Justice Weston was not like her colleagues: She was a woman; she was young; she was a mother; and she was black. It became readily apparent to her that she would face challenges in her professional career that some of her colleagues would not. Yet, she developed a tough skin and managed to maneuver the changing political and judicial landscape. She learned how to earn the respect of her peers without yielding to outside pressures. She did so through hard work and by treating everyone in her courtroom—whether it was the attorneys, the jurors, or the litigants—with the same respect that she would have demanded of them. Justice Weston's hard work and dignified demeanor was recognized when she was appointed in 1993 to the Appellate Term for the Second, Eleventh and Thirteenth Judicial Districts. Once again, she would earn the distinction of being appointed the first African-American woman to that bench. As an appellate judge, Justice Weston painstakingly reviewed every case to ensure that any opinion which bore her name was principled and fair. When she disagreed with her colleagues, she remained steadfast in her opinions and did not hesitate to dissent. And when she did dissent, she made certain that her opinions were thoughtful and firmly grounded in the law. While Justice Weston has left a lasting impression on the judiciary, her accomplishments extend well beyond the courtroom. In 2008, she served as President of the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York at a time when judges had not received a pay raise in almost a decade. She worked tirelessly to promote the much-deserved raises, urging members of the legislature to stop linking judicial pay raises to legislative pay raises. Since 2005, Justice Weston has also served as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches the Judicial Seminar. Her enthusiasm for imparting her knowledge and engaging students in matters affecting the judiciary have made her a well-respected professor at the school. To this day, Justice Weston will occasionally receive a phone call from a former student seeking her wisdom and guidance. A trailblazer, role model, and accomplished jurist, Justice Weston is certainly deserving of an award for a lifetime of achievement. Cristina Martinez is a Principal Law Clerk to an Acting Supreme Court Justice in Nassau County. She served as Principal Law Clerk to the Hon. Michelle Weston, Associate Justice of the Appellate Term for the Second, Eleventh and Thirteenth Judicial Districts, from 2003 to 2022, and received her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School in 1995 and her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in 1991. Iris Cross served as a Kings County Assistant District Attorney and Westchester County Assistant Attorney, before she began to work as Principal Law Clerk to the Hon. Michelle Weston from 1994 to 2022. She is currently working in Westchester County as a Principal Law Clerk to a Supreme Court Judge. Iris is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.