Hon. Tanya Kennedy

About

Hon. Tanya R. Kennedy was appointed in July 2020 as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Prior to her appointment, Justice Kennedy served as a Justice of the Supreme Court, New York County, commencing in January 2016, after election in November 2015. She was elected to Civil Court in November 2005 and thereafter served in Criminal Court, Civil Court, Family Court, as Acting Supreme Court Justice, and as Supervising Judge of Civil Court, New York County. She is also a former Adjunct Professor at Fordham University School of Law, where she taught a Juvenile Justice seminar for ten years.

Justice Kennedy is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Bar Association; member of the Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions of the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York; and member of the Board of Overseers of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she received her law degree. Justice Kennedy is also the Past President of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ).

A frequent speaker at various conferences, she has received numerous professional awards, including the 2021 Distinguished Alumna Award from Penn State University; the 2021 John E. Higgins, Esq. Diversity Trailblazer award from the New York State Bar Association; the 2017 Diversity Leadership Award from Penn State Law; and the 2015 Alumni of the Year Award from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.