Contact: Sunny Mindel / Michael Anton (212) 788-2958
Judge Stewart H. Weinstein currently sits as a Family Court Judge in Kings County. He began his judicial career in Kings County in October of 1990, returning there in 1998, after presiding for 8 years in the Bronx Family Court. Judge Weinstein began his legal career in 1977 as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society's juvenile rights division, in New York County. From 1983 to 1990 he served as an Assistant Director and then Director of Training for the Legal Aid Society. Judge Weinstein is a 1976 graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law. He has lectured extensively on numerous aspects of family court practice before many associations and various state and city agencies, including the Human Resources Administration, the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Corporation Counsel's Family Court Training Program. Judge Weinstein's commitment to New York's youth has been demonstrated in many ways. In 1980, he helped conceive and develop a job training program for juveniles called "Partners in Progress." More recently, he devoted his lunch hour to volunteering as a reading tutor to third graders. And in April of last year, Cardinal O'Connor presented him with the Justice and Compassion Award from Abraham House. Since 1994, Judge Weinstein has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Family Court Judges of the State of New York. He also serves on the Committee on Children and the Law of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Judge Weinstein is a member of various organizations, including the New York Gay and Lesbian Community Center and the Central Park Conservancy.
Judge Mary Ellen Fitzmaurice has been the Family court supervising judge in Queens County since 1995 and a Family Court Judge since 1990. The judge brings to the bench both a wealth of judicial experience and a rich variety of experiences as a practicing attorney and teacher. After graduating from St. John's University School of Law, Judge Fitzmaurice began her legal career with the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society in 1980. She remained there until 1982, when she joined the staff of the Christic Institute in Washington D.C. to practice public interest law. Thereafter, the judge spent two years in private practice before joining the Office of Legal Affairs of the Human Resources Administration, first as a Staff Attorney and then as an Assistant Supervising Attorney. In late 1988 Judge Fitzmaurice returned to the private practice of law until her appointment to the family court bench in 1990. During this last stint in private practice Judge Fitzmaurice honed her skills and interest in the judiciary as an Administrative Law Judge for the Environmental Control Board. Judge Fitzmaurice has been active in a variety of professional organizations including: the New York State Family Court Judges Association; the Queens Bar Association; the Queens Women's Bar Associations; New York State Bar Association; Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and the National Association of Women Judges. Judge Fitzmaurice began her professional career as a teacher, first at our lady of Sorrows in Manhattan, and later at the Holy Trinity School in Brooklyn. After graduating from law school, she spent one year as a part time instructor of paralegal studies at York College.