{"id":232569,"date":"2026-05-15T11:39:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232569\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:39:22","slug":"brooklyn-bar-association-honors-lawyers-judges-in-emotional-annual-awards-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232569\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Bar Association honors lawyers, judges in emotional annual awards ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bar association is made by its membership \u2014 and Brooklyn\u2019s<\/a> was on full display Wednesday night at its annual awards ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is about appreciating all that you do for our and for the legal community,\u201d Brooklyn Bar Association<\/a> President Christina Golkin said to the organization\u2019s members gathered at their Remsen Street headquarters on May 13. \u201cI\u2019m so honored and thankful and proud to work with all of you. Thank you all so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brooklyn Bar Associaton Past President Anthony Vaughn, President Christina Golkin and President-Elect Daniel Antonelli present and accept awards.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

A handful of those people gave emotional remarks as they accepted awards and presented them to one another, immediately demonstrating Golkin\u2019s sentiment about how much her members care about the legal community.<\/p>\n

As he accepted the Lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Award, Chief Administrative Judge of the New York Court System Joseph Zayas<\/a> said the award \u201cmeant the world\u201d to him because he believes a diverse judiciary is critical to having an excellent one.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroad-based diversity in our courts is enormously important to me,\u201d Zayas said. \u201cAs the Chief Administrative Judge, I have been trying to do a lot of work in this space, really making it a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas is presented the Lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Award by Appellate Division Second Department Associate Justice Lillian Wan, Brooklyn Bar Association President Christina Golkin, and President-Elect Daniel Antonelli.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

\u201cExcellent qualifications and extraordinary merit will never, never, ever have to be sacrificed at the altar of diversity,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe can have the best appointments possible and also have a diverse bench and a diverse workforce. They are not mutually exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Supreme Civil Court Justice Norma Jennings<\/a>, the first Black LGBTQ woman to sit on that bench, was also a recipient of the Lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Award. She said she was motivated to pursue a career in public interest law because being raised by a single mother of seven in the New Jersey projects made her want to advocate for those who don\u2019t feel they\u2019re heard by the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI base my judicial career on trying to give back to people who don\u2019t believe that they are being heard and that they are being dismissed by the system,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cWe are part of that system, so we have to kind of change that image, so that people are not being dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Norma J, Jennings accepts the Lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Award. She is the first Black LGBTQ justice to serve on the bench.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

She said she wanted to use her position within the system to help make the court more accessible by encouraging and mentoring young people with a background similar to hers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had people who have said \u2018No\u2019 to me, but I\u2019ve also had so many people who have been here to say \u2018Yes\u2019 for me to do it, and that\u2019s what I want to be to the young people that are coming up,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cLGBTQ and young Black and brown people need people who look like me to say, \u2018You can do it.\u2019 And that\u2019s what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Armena Gayle accepts the lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Award alongside Brooklyn Bar Association President-Elect Daniel Antonelli and President Christina Golkin.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

Alongside handing out awards, Golkin also used the association\u2019s annual meeting to tell members that changes are coming next year: the bar association will sell its building at 123 Remsen St. to focus on maintaining financial stability and increasing programming and support for members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are beginning the work of defining a new vision for the Brooklyn Bar Association,\u201d Golkin said. \u201cChange is difficult and unpleasant, but it\u2019s also necessary to remain relevant in our ever-changing world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brooklyn Supreme Civil Administrative Judge Genine Edwards stands with Leah Richardson, to whom she presented the Nathan R. Sobel Award later that night.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat gives me the greatest confidence in this is that the Brooklyn Bar Association has never been defined by this building and has always been defined by its members, by the lawyers who show up, who serve, who lead, who care about this profession and this borough?\u201d Golkin continued. \u201cThis year marks the beginning of something transformational.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brooklyn Supreme Court Supervising Justice for Matrimonial Matters Jeffrey Sunshine, Brooklyn County Clerk Nancy Sunshine, Brooklyn Bar Association Past President Gregory Cerchione and Retired Supreme Criminal Judge Barry Kaminis stand together at the organization\u2019s annual awards night.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

All Brooklyn Bar Association 2026 Awardees:<\/p>\n

Lynn Terrelonge Bridge to Diversity Awards: Armena D. Gayle, New York Supreme Court Justice Norma J. Jennings and Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas\n<\/p>\n

Freda S. Nisnewitz Award for Pro Bono Service: M. Julieth Mendoza
\n\"\"M. Julieth Mendoza accepts an award from Brooklyn Supreme Civil Administrative Judge Genine Edwards, President Christina Golkin and President-Elect Daniel Antonelli.Isabella Gallo\n<\/p>\n

Hon. Nathan R. Sobel Award: Leah Richardson<\/p>\n

Avery Eli Okin Award: Brooklyn Bar Lawyer Referral Service Director Roseann Hiebert
\n\"\"Roseann Hiebert is presented the Avery Eli Okin Award by Brooklyn Bar Association Past President Gregory Cerchione, President Christina Golkin and President-Elect Daniel Antonelli present and accept awards.Isabella Gallo\n<\/p>\n

Distinguished Service Award: Brooklyn Bar Association Past President Anthony Vaughn<\/p>\n

\"\"Anthony Vaughn, a past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, accepts the Distinguished Service Award.Isabella Gallo<\/p>\n

Theodore T. Jones Jr. Scholarship Award: Emma Cohen, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bar association is made by its membership \u2014 and Brooklyn\u2019s was on full display Wednesday night at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,56045,2710,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-232569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-bar-association","tag-law","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}