HONOREE
We are very grateful for our friends who continually provide the encouragement and
support that helps make us successful.
Judge Bruna DiBiase
Queens County Criminal Court
Bruna DiBiase is an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. She was appointed as a judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in December 2013, and re-appointed in April 2015. Judge DiBiase currently presides in the Youth Part of Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term, handling all the Raise the Age Youth Cases in Queens County. Prior to that she was the presiding judge in the Domestic Violence Court in Queens County.
Prior to becoming a judge, Judge DiBiase served as Chief of Staff to the Honorable Judy Kluger who was then Chief of Policy and Planning for the New York State Unified Court System.
In that role she assisted in developing court policies and strategies throughout the state. In addition to implementing policy development and system-wide court reform, she had oversight over Grants and Problem-Solving Courts in the state, including the Integrated Domestic Violence Courts, Domestic Violence Courts, Youthful Offender Domestic Violence Courts, Drug Courts, Mental Health Courts and Sex Offense Courts, Community Court initiatives, the facilitation of public access to court records and court reorganization projects. Under the direction of the Office of the Chief of Policy and Planning, more than 300 Problem-Solving Courts in New York State were planned and implemented. As counsel, Judge DiBiase addressed legal, legislative, operational and training issues for judges and court staff, and provided guidance in the restructuring projects spearheaded by the office.
Judge DiBiase also served as the Chief Court Attorney of the New York City Criminal Court’s Law Department from 2000 to 2003, supervising the operation of the Law Department in each of New York City’s five boroughs. As Chief Court Attorney, she coordinated the Judicial Orientation Training Program for New Judges and the Orientation Program for Judicial Hearing Officers assigned to the Criminal Courts, and implemented a Court Attorney Training Program that was certified as a Continuing Legal Educational program. She also served as editor for the Bench Book for Judges Assigned to the New York City Criminal Court and, among other court initiatives, proposed a plea by mail procedure for local court summonses that still remains in effect. From 1998 to 2000, she served as the Supervising Court Attorney for Queens County Criminal Court, working with the Honorable Seymour Rotker who was then the Supervising Judge of Queens County Criminal Court. Before joining the court system, she was in private practice from 1991 to 1998, and a staff attorney in the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Division from 1984 to 1991.
Judge DiBiase is an active member of numerous bar associations, including the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, the Columbian Lawyers Association of Queens County, the Queens County Bar Association and the Network of Bar Leaders. In addition, she is a Past President of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association and a Past President of the Columbian Lawyers Association of Queens County. In 2001, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award presented by the American Committee on Italian Migration. She has also been honored as one of the 2008 Top Women in Queens County. Judge DiBiase is also a member of several committees and advisory boards and has presented at numerous judicial conferences in New York as well as national and international conferences in Washington, D.C., Canada and London. Most recently, Judge DiBiase has presented at multiple legal programs as an expert on the newly enacted Domestic Violence Survivors Act (DVSJA), which permits courts to impose an alternative sentence for eligible defendants who were victims of
domestic violence.