Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Dwight Williams (212) 788-2972
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today administered the oath of office to four Criminal Court judges and four Civil Court Judges at a City Hall ceremony. Gregory Carro, Gabriel W. Gorenstein, Robert M. Raciti and Larry R.C. Stephen have been appointed to the New York City Criminal Court. Ellen M. Coin, Suzanne M. Mondo, Ann T. Pfau and Neil E. Ross have been appointed to the New York City Civil Court.
"The appointment of Judges is one of my most important responsibilities," Mayor Giuliani said. "These men and women have demonstrated throughout their careers a thorough understanding of the law and a commitment to excellence. I am confident each will dispense justice fairly and serve the judicial system with the integrity, dedication and fairness that have marked their public service and private endeavors."
Ellen M. Coin served as a partner in the Litigation Department of Graubard Mollen & Miller for the past nine years. After graduating from the New York University School of Law in 1972, Ms. Coin joined the King's County District Attorney's Office. Five years later, she moved to the Organized Crime Strike Force of the United States Department of Justice for the Eastern District of New York where she specialized in managing federal investigations and prosecutions of organized crime. She was admitted to the Bar in 1973.
Suzanne M. Mondo began her legal career in the King's County District Attorney's office before moving to the United States Department of Justice for the Eastern District of New York. With her extensive experience in homicide prosecutions and felony trials, she returned to the King's County District Attorney's office, where she served as Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney. Most recently, she worked as a criminal defense attorney, of counsel to J. Bruce Maffeo. Ms. Mondo graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1982, and was admitted to the Bar in 1983.
Since graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 1984, Ann T. Pfau has worked in the New York State Unified Court System. There she served in the Counsel's Office of the Office of Court Administration before being appointed Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief Administrator for Management Support and then Special Counsel to the Chief Administrative Judge. She has had extensive experience in court management and usage, including domestic violence courts, drug treatment courts and the expansion of the community court concept. She was admitted to the Bar in 1985.
Neil E. Ross began his legal career in the King's County District Attorney's office after graduating from Syracuse University School of Law in 1984. Six years later, he was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he served in the Organized Crime and Racketeering section and then as Chief of Case Intake and Arraignments. He was admitted to the Bar in 1985.
Gregory Carro has served in the New York County District Attorney's office since graduating from Rutgers School of Law in 1985. Mr. Carro began his career in the office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor before moving to the Trial Division three years later. In 1990, he was assigned to the Homicide Investigation Unit where he managed investigations and trials involving murder, robbery and assault connected to the organized narcotics trade. He was admitted to the Bar in 1986.
After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1984, Gabriel W. Gorenstein served as Law Clerk to Chief Judge Spottswood W. Robinson of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He worked as an Associate in the Law Firm of Debevoise & Plimpton from 1985 to 1987. He was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1987, where he served as Chief of the Civil Rights Unit. There he received the John Marshall Award from the Justice Department in 1990 for outstanding legal achievement. Thereafter, he served as Chief Appellate Attorney for the United States Attorney before being appointed General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration in 1994. He has served as Acting First Deputy Commissioner since 1996. He was admitted to the Bar in 1985.
Robert M. Raciti graduated from the New England School of Law in 1977 and began his career in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts and then in the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office in Cambridge. He spent the next two years in private practice as an Associate in the law firm of Morrison, Mahoney and Miller in Boston before being appointed Assistant
District Attorney in the Appeals Bureau for New York County. He had most recently served as Senior Appellate Counsel managing felony appeals in the Appellate Division, First Department, and the Court of Appeals. He was admitted to the Bar in 1985.
Prior to today's appointment, Larry R.C. Stephen was Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division of the United States Attorney's office for the District of New Jersey, where he twice received awards from the Attorney General for excellence in prosecuting political corruption. After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1981, he spent eight years trying cases, conducting investigations and handling grand jury presentations in the New York County District Attorney's office. In 1989, he was appointed Inspector General for Special Assignments for the New York City Department of Investigations. Mr. Stephen returned to the New York County District Attorney's office serving as Senior Trial Counsel and Chief of the Official Corruption Unit, handling police misconduct cases. From September, 1993 to July, 1994, Mr. Stephen was an attorney with the United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, where he investigated and tried cases throughout the nation.