MAYOR GIULIANI APPOINTS THREE NEW FAMILY COURT JUDGES

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today appointed three new judges to the Family Court: Arnold Lim, Jane Pearl, and Carol Ann Stokinger.

"Serving as a judge is always a great responsibility, as all judges are charged with ensuring the preservation of the rule of law in New York City," the Mayor said. "But the judges being appointed today to the Family Court have a special responsibility: to protect and ensure the safety of children. Because their decisions affect the lives of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, appointing these jurists is one of my most important responsibilities. Today, I am proud to administer the oath of office to this distinguished group of public servants."

Arnold Lim began his second career as an attorney in the Family Court Division in the Office of the New York City Corporation Counsel in 1986. Since 1989, he has served as the Deputy Borough Chief of the Family Court Division in Queens County specializing in the prosecution of sex offenses. Since 1996, he also served as the Division's Co-Coordinator of Management Information Services helping to incorporate computer usage to facilitate work for attorneys and staff. Before beginning his legal career, Mr. Lim was a social worker. He was a Senior Social Worker from 1979 to 1986 at the Staten Island University Hospital and then a psychiatric social worker at the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. Mr. Lim has authored a practice information guide distributed to all Family Court Division attorneys since 1992. He graduated from City College in 1970, earned a Master of Social Work degree from Hunter College in 1977 and graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1986. Mr. Lim has served on the Juvenile Justice Committee of the New York City Bar Association and is a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York City.

Jane Pearl has been a Court Attorney-Referee in the Manhattan Family Court since 1998. Her work as Referee in child protective hearings is part of a National Judicial Commission Model Court Project in which the Manhattan Family Court was selected to serve as a Model Permanency Planning Court in New York State. From 1994 to 1998, Ms. Pearl was a Family Court Hearing Examiner. Prior to that, she had been in private practice at Tenzer Greenblatt from 1990 to 1992. Upon graduation from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in 1988, she served as a Court Attorney to Family Court Judge Sheldon Rand. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Pearl was a psychologist, first at the National Institute For Human Relation from 1974 to 1978 and then for Associated Mental Health Services from 1976 to 1983. Ms. Pearl has also held teaching positions as a Substance Abuse Teacher and Research Associate at the University of Illinois and as an Instructor at Tel Aviv University. In addition to her law degree, Ms. Pearl has an undergraduate degree from George Washington University and a Masters and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She also served on the Family Law and Family Court Committee of the New York City Bar Association from 1993 to 1997.

Carol Ann Stokinger began her career as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County in 1977 and since 1995 has been the Chief of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau. From 1977 to 1986 she was assigned to the Trial Bureau and was appointed to the Homicide Part in 1982. From 1984 to 1986 she was the Supervising Attorney in charge of the Domestic Violence Unit and then Deputy Borough Chief of the Trial Bureau from 1986 to 1992. She served as Chief of the Child Abuse Bureau from 1992 to 1995. Ms. Stokinger has represented the District Attorney's Office on the New York City Family Court Advisory Council on numerous sub-committees. She also represents the District Attorney's Office on the Mayor's Child Abuse Task Force, the Criminal Court Committee on Domestic Violence and the Coordinating Committee for Children. Ms. Stokinger is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Columbia University Law School.

 

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