Hon. Troy K. Webber, FHW Commission co-chair, said the program was “absolutely tremendous.”
“If this is something you want to do, take advantage of this terrific mentoring opportunity and do it,” she said. “This is a one-on-one thing. We pair mentees with sitting judges, attorneys and other practitioners who will interview them, go over their resumes and help them.”
Hon. Joanne D. Quiñones, FHW Judicial Mentor Program chair, pointed out that nearly 20 years ago, when she submitted her first judicial application, she sought a mentor through the Commission.
Hon. Rena Malik interacting with an intern. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
“My mentor helped me navigate every step of the journey,” she recalled. “That relationship, that experience, is one of the reasons why I believe so deeply in the power of mentorship.”
Quiñones said that more than one-third of FHW’s mentees have secured judgeships, by election or appointment, within one to three years of being assigned a mentor.
Previous mentees
New York City Housing Court Judge Alberto Gonzalez, who was a participant in the FHW program, told the audience that as a young person and child of immigrant parents, he had no connection whatsoever to the Unified Court System.
“Thankfully, there was something like the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission’s Judicial Mentor Program that was able to introduce me,” he said.
Legal Aid Society staff attorney and former FHW legal intern Naya Brown-Yohay said that a court internship gives you something a classroom cannot.
“It’s a front-row seat to the justice system. Mentoring is about helping someone become the kind of professional and the kind of person they aspire to be,” she said. “I encourage all of you to seek mentors and remain open to learning.”