Carolyn E. Demarest is a retired American judge who served in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

's state and local court systems for 33 years. This includes her role as justice of the trial level

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

for Brooklyn, Kings County, where she served for 26 years, and was one of that court's original Commercial Division specialist

business court Business courts, sometimes referred to as commercial courts, are specialized courts for legal cases involving commercial law, internal business disputes, and other matters affecting businesses. In the US, they are trial courts that primarily or ...

judges.

Judicial service

Demarest served for 26 years on the Supreme Court of Brooklyn, Kings County, from 1990 to 2016. She was originally appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

in 1990, and subsequently won election to a 14-year term beginning in 1991, and then re-election in 2005 for another term. Before serving as a Supreme Court justice, New York Mayor Edward I. Koch appointed Demarest as a judge on the Family Court of the City of New York, where she served from 1985 to 1989. In 1983 and in 1985, Koch had appointed Demarest as an interim judge to the Civil Court of the City of New York. Demarest has presided over civil and criminal cases, and during her Supreme Court service, among other things, she was "designated to handle capital and complex cases in the Criminal Term." She was an editor and an author of the Kings County Criminal Term Manual. In 2005, she was judge in a prominent case involving the bribery of witnesses in a murder trial. Demarest was "one of two Justices designated to develop and preside over the Commercial Division in Kings County, which opened in December 2002." She was a presiding judge in the Commercial Division from 2002 to 2016. New York's Commercial Division is a specialized

docket within New York's Supreme Court, with a

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

limited to disputes of a business and commercial nature. Commercial Division judges preside over an assigned case from beginning to end. "The caseload of the Division is ... very demanding, requiring of the court scholarship in commercial law, experience in the management of complex cases, and a wealth of energy." Demarest issued over 500

legal opinion In law, a legal opinion is in certain jurisdictions a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling. Opinions are in those jurisdi ...

s as a Commercial Division judge. Among many other areas of the law, she has written important opinions on issues relating to business divorce, where parties in a formal business relationship are ending their legal ties. In 2013, she oversaw high-profile litigation involving the State University of New York's effort to close the

Long Island College Hospital University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was founded in 1858 as Long Island Coll ...

Legal practice

Demarest was an

associate attorney An associate attorney is a lawyer and an employee of a law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner. Types Practicing attorney An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ownership interest in ...

at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom from 1972 to 1973. She served in the New York City Appeals Division of the city's Law Department, as Assistant Chief Corporation Counsel from 1976 to 1983. She practiced

appellate law In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

as a solo practitioner from 1984 to 1985. She also served as Special Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York in 1984. After retiring as a judge, in 2017 Demarest joined JAMS where she provides private

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

services as a

mediator Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

, arbitrator, and

special master In the law of the United States, a special master is an official appointed by a judge to ensure judicial orders are followed, or in the alternative, to hear evidence on behalf of the judge and make recommendations to the judge as to the dispositi ...

Judicial clerkship

From 1973 to 1976, Demarest was a judicial law clerk to Judge Stanley Danzig of the Civil Court of the City of New York.

Education

Demarest received her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1967, and her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1972. She has been an instructor at Bernard M. Baruch College of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

Awards and honors

Demarest has received at least the following awards and honors: • In 2005, Demarest received four distinct awards and honors: (1) the Ruth E. Moskowitz Award from the Kings County Supreme Court; (2) the Metropolitan Black Bar Association's Jurist of the Year award; (3) the New York State Bar Association's Section of Federal and Commercial Litigation Award; and a Distinguished Service award from Brooklyn's Borough President

Marty Markowitz Martin Markowitz (born February 14, 1945) is an American politician who served as the borough president of Brooklyn, New York City. He was first elected in 2001 after serving 23 years as a New York State Senator. His third and final term ended ...

. • In 2009, Demarest received three distinct honors: (1) a second Distinguished Service award from Brooklyn's Borough President Marty Markowitz; (2) the Outstanding Citizens Award from City Council; and (3) the Honorable William Bellard Award from the Diocese of Brooklyn's Catholic Lawyers Guild. • She served on the

New York University Law Review The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a ...

editorial board while in law school.

Positions and memberships

Among other things: • Demarest has served as chair of the New York City Bar Association's Council on Judicial Administration since 2016. • She is a founding member of the American College of Business Court Judges. • She served as a member of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Continuing Legal Education. • She chaired the New York State Bar's Municipal Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Quality of Life: Crime and Education. • She chaired the New York State Bar's Committee on Education and Law Committee, Subcommittee: Integration and High Schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demarest, Carolyn Living people New York University alumni New York University School of Law alumni Baruch College faculty New York Supreme Court justices Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American judges Women judges 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Mediation