(New York, NY, Monday, October 25, 2021) – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is proud that its founding member and director will be honored when the Children’s Center, located at 111 Centre Street Courthouse, is named after her on October 26, 2021. The Betty Weinberg Ellerin Children’s Center will provide parents and caregivers appearing in the New York City Family, Criminal, and Housing Courts with a safe and nurturing place to leave their children while they are attending court proceedings.

Among Judge Ellerin’s many achievements are the following:  She was the first woman appointed as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the Courts of the City of New York in 1982, with administrative responsibility for the operation of all trial courts within the City of New York.  In 1985, she was the first woman to be appointed as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department.  In 1999, Judge Ellerin was the first woman to be appointed Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department.

Justice Ellerin served as an Appellate Justice until her retirement from the judiciary in 2005.  Currently, Justice Ellerin is the Chair of the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts; Vice Chair of the Committee on Character and Fitness of the Appellate Division, First Department; Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics.  She is a past President of the New York Women’s Bar Association (1969-1970) a Chapter of WBASNY, past President of the National Association of Women Judges, and past Chair of its National Task Force on Gender Bias in the Courts.

In commenting on this honor, WBASNY President Dawn Reid-Green stated that “Justice Ellerin is a legal titan and ground-breaker in New York.  There is no one more deserving of this esteemed honor.  Justice Ellerin has spent a lifetime supporting women’s rights and mentoring women judges and attorneys.”

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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for more than 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State, and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country.  For four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, with professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families.  Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.