Justices of the Court

Associate Justice Barbara R. Kapnick

Born in New York City, Justice Barbara R. Kapnick received her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Barnard College and her juris doctor from Boston University School of Law.

She was elected to the Civil Court in 1991, appointed an Acting Supreme Court Justice in April 1994, and was elected to the Supreme Court, New York County in 2001. She was assigned to the Commercial Division in 2008, where she handled many complex and high-profile cases, and was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department in January 2014. Justice Kapnick was a member of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics from June 2008 - June 2018, and now serves on its Ethics Faculty. She also served as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the New York County Public Access Law Library from 2008 to 2014. In December 2015, she was appointed to the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, promoting racial and ethnic fairness in the courts, and in October 2017 she was appointed to the Commercial Division Advisory Council.

Justice Kapnick served as President of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 2022 and was the President of the Supreme Court Justices Association of the City of New York from 2013-2014.

She served as Presiding Member of the Judicial Section of the New York State Bar Association from June 2020-May 2021 and is a member of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section. She is also a long-time member of the New York City Bar Association, where she currently serves on the Council on Judicial Administration.

Justice Kapnick is a Master of the New York American Inn of Court and past president of the Jewish Lawyers Guild, where she remains active as a member of the Board of Directors. She is also a longstanding member of the New York Women’s Bar Association and a charter member of the New York Women Judges Association.

A frequent lecturer for many Bar Associations, Justice Kapnick has received numerous awards, including the Benjamin N. Cardozo Award from the Jewish Lawyers Guild, the Harlan Fiske Stone Memorial Award from the New York City Trial Lawyers Association, the Women’s History Month Flor de Maga Award from the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Distinguished Jurist Award from the Defense Association of New York and the Outstanding Jurist Award from the Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.