New York City Bar

In a special Women’s History Month episode, City Bar President Muhammad Faridi speaks with Judge Bianka Perez, an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court and president of the Supreme Court Justices Association. Judge Perez speaks about her path to the bench – her roots as a Bronx paralegal and office manager, through night classes at New York Law School, and a legal practice serving both her intellectual ambitions and her commitment to supporting her community. Perez discusses how private practice shaped her perspective on judicial empathy, how her Dominican heritage and role models influence her leadership and service, and how mentoring students is a priority. She addresses the difficulty of rulings constrained by statute and precedent, coping with the stress of judging, and defines success as making history and lifting the next generation of Latina leaders. Want to hear more from women who lead? Check out the most recent International Law Conference on the Status of Women hosted at the City Bar, w