Anita Florio
At the end of last year, Justice Anita Florio, 76, stepped down from the bench after 19 years in the Appellate Division, Second Department, and another 16 years before that as a New York Criminal Court judge and a Supreme Court justice in the Bronx.
Florio was the longest-serving judge among her current Second Department colleagues, first appointed to the Brooklyn-based appellate court in 1994 and certificated three times.
Graduating from college in 1958, Florio did not plan to become a lawyer, let alone a judge. Instead, she worked as a high school teacher for a year on Manhattan's Upper East Side and only pursued a legal career after marrying and having a son. Since then, her experience as an attorney has included work as a Bronx prosecutor, an administrative attorney for the city and deputy secretary of state and counsel to then-New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo. Florio has also been active in professional groups for female judges and attorneys.
Earlier this year, she was given a standing ovation during her last day hearing oral arguments. In remarks read from the bench, Justice John Leventhal said that "without hesitation...she is beloved by us all." (NYLJ, Nov. 2).
Q: Why did you become a lawyer?
A: In all truthfulness, becoming a lawyer almost didn't happen. While I was an undergraduate student at Manhattanville College, I originally thought I wanted to attend medical school. However, after I graduated from Manhattanville I got married and had a son. Shortly thereafter, I realized that staying at home was not for me, and decided that I wanted to go back to graduate school and thus applied to, and was accepted at, the three law schools to which I had applied.
Q: Why did you become a judge?
A: As a young practicing lawyer I had the opportunity to go before many judges who I admired and respected very much. However, very few of them were women. I felt as though I embodied many of the same values and believed I could be a fair and impartial arbiter, and wanted to see the female touch being brought to the judicial landscape.
Q: Were women lawyers treated with respect in the courts when you began your career? How has the attitude toward women lawyers changed?
A: I'll start by going back to law school. I was one of three women in a class of 100 [at Fordham]. On the first day, a professor addressed the class, saying that he hoped that the women in the class realized that they were taking the seat of a man who needed a job to feed their families and to reconsider coming back the next day. Women have come a long way. We all know such a remark would have no place in a law school classroom today. I believe that I read somewhere recently that women students are outnumbering men at many law schools, and our admissions classes at the court seem to be nearly 50 percent women.
Q: What qualities do individuals need to be an effective judge?
A: Aside from being knowledgeable about the law, a judge must be able to write decisions clearly and cogently. A judge must also have the highest standards of integrity and be able to act fairly and open-mindedly, as well as having a judicial temperament.
Q: What will you miss the most about being a judge?
A: I will miss the collegiality of the judges of the Appellate Division, Second Department, as well as having the pleasure of being around all the hard-working and dedicated people who make that court the stellar institution that it is.
Q: What will you miss the least?
A: The schedule a judge keeps can be quite hectic and busy, including the long car trips from Westchester County to Brooklyn. I won't miss reading what appears to be endless records and briefs every night (even on the weekends). In all, I am looking forward to having the opportunity to spend more time with my family.
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