Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the appointment of 19 members to the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary: Zachary W. Carter as Chair, Robert Keating as Vice Chair, William Snipes, Austin Campriello, Charles E. Dorkey III, Philip M. Damashek, Peggy Davis, William Hellerstein, Sheila Birnbaum, Margarita Rosa, Cathy Douglass, Sharon Myrie, Michael Finnegan, Roger Maldonado, Chanwoo Lee, Barbara Underwood, Mara Thorpe, Katie Lapp and James Castro-Blanco. The Mayor's Advisory Committee was established by Executive Order to recruit, evaluate, consider and nominate highly qualified judicial candidates for appointment to the New York City Criminal Court, Family Court and, for interim appointments, Civil Court.

"I am committed to appointing highly qualified judges who will treat every person and every case fairly," Mayor Bloomberg said. "These appointments to the Advisory Committee represent the private and public sectors as well as academia. They are a talented and diverse group of lawyers selected because of their experience and integrity. I am confident that these men and women will vigorously and effectively promote an open legal process based on a fair administration of justice."

Carter is currently a partner at Dorsey and Whitney, LLP, where he is co-chair of the White Collar Crime and Civil Fraud practice group. Carter served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he prosecuted several prominent cases. Carter received a JD from the New York University School of Law and a BA from Cornell University.

Keating is the Chairman and CEO of Management Techniques Inc., where he has served since 2000. Prior to that, he was a partner at Keating & Klein, PC, and Senior Executive Vice President at Complete Management Inc. Keating was formerly Administrative Judge of the Second Judicial District, Supreme Court, Administrative Judge of the New York City Criminal Court, and New York City Criminal Justice Coordinator. He is also currently the Director of the Center for Judicial Studies and a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Pace University School of Law. Keating received his LLB from Duke University Law School.

Snipes is a litigation partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP. He is also a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Minorities in the Courts and the former CO-chair of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. Snipes received an LLM from Harvard Law School and a JD from Howard University School of Law.

Campriello is currently a partner at Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn & Berman, LLP. He has held numerous government appointments in his career, including Special Counsel to the Mayor's Special Commission to Investigate City Contracts, and Chief Counsel and Executive Director of the Joint Commission on Integrity in the Public Schools. Campriello was also Chief of the Rackets Bureau at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He received his JD from Columbia Law School.

Dorkey is managing partner and head of the litigation unit of the New York office of Torys LLP. He is a former member of the Governor's Judicial Screening Committee for the Appellate Division, First Department. He is also a member of the Empire State Development Corporation and serves on the ABCNY Committee on Federal Courts. He received his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Damashek is managing partner at the Cochran Firm, Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot. He is a member of Governor's Judicial Screening Committee and a member of the Judicial Screening Committee, Second Department. Damashek is also a former member of the New York State Bar Association Committee on the Courts and the Community.

Davis is John S. R. Shad Professor of Lawyering and Ethics, and Director of the Lawyering Program, at New York University School of Law. She is also a former Family Court judge. Davis received a JD from Harvard Law School.

Hellerstein is Professor of Criminal Law and Constitutional Law at Brooklyn Law School. He is the former Attorney-in-Charge of the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Appeals Bureau and as Vice President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Hellerstein received his JD from Harvard University Law School.

Birnbaum is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP. She is a member of
the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Rules and Civil Procedure U.S. Supreme Court, and is a former Executive Director of Second Circuit Task Force on Racial, Ethnic and Gender Fairness. She received an LLB from New York University School of Law.

Rosa is the Executive Director of the Grand Street Settlement. She is a former New York State Commissioner of Human Rights and a member of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Minorities in the Profession. Rosa received her JD degree from Harvard Law School.

Douglass is the Executive Director of inMotion, a not-for-profit that provides legal and other assistance to women and families. Douglass is a former partner at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher. She currently serves on the New York State Parent Education Advisory Board. Douglass graduated from the University of Arizona Law School.

Myrie is currently Vice President of Education at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. She was a former Deputy Director/General Counsel of the Mayor's Office on Homelessness & SRO Housing. She is a member of the Housing Court Advisory Council Judicial Screening Committee. Myrie received a JD from The George Washington University National Law Center.

Finnegan is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Securities Finance. He is the former Chief Counsel to Governor George Pataki. Finnegan has served on the EPA Environmental Finance Advisory Board and the UN Development Programme. Finnegan earned his law degree from Pace University Law School.

Maldonado is a partner at Balber, Pickard, Battistoni, Maldonado & Van Der Tuin. He is a former Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and was formerly the Chair of the Association's Task Force on Housing Court. Maldonado received his degree from Yale Law School.

Lee is a criminal defense attorney. She is a member the Board of Managers of the Queens County Bar Association, and is also a member of the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York and the Asian Bar Association of New York. Lee was formerly an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division. Lee received a JD degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Underwood is Chief Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She has also served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States, as Senior Executive District Attorney at the Queens District Attorneys' Office, as Chief of Appeals and Counsel to the Brooklyn District Attorney, and as law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Underwood received at Georgetown University Law Center.

Thorpe is a partner who specializes in family law at Morrison Cohen Singer & Weinstein, and is a former Family Court judge. She is also a member of the American Bar Association's section on Family Law. Thorpe received her JD degree from New York University Law School.

Lapp is the Executive Director of Metropolitan Transit Authority. She previously served as the Director of Criminal Justice for the State of New York and Commissioner of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, as well as Criminal Justice Coordinator of New York City. Lapp is a graduate of Hofstra University School of Law.

Castro-Blanco is Manager of Associate Development at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling. He was previously Assistant Dean for Career Services at St. John's University and a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. He received his JD from Brooklyn Law School.