Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler (Ret.) served twenty-six years on the bench in New York State. She is a respected former New York State Supreme Court jurist and private practitioner and a seasoned ADR professional whose experience spans a wide array of practice areas across a broad range of industries. 

While on the bench, Justice Heitler handled cases in multiple areas of the law spanning the full breadth of appellate, criminal, and civil matters. She resolved thousands of cases through pretrial rulings, bench and jury trials, judgments and settlement conferences. The types of cases over which she has presided as a jurist, arbitrator or mediator include complex business and commercial, personal injury, asbestos, estate/probate/trust, commercial and residential property, landlord/tenant, employment/labor, family law, insurance coverage, sexual assault/harassment, and professional liability matters.

In recognition of her exemplary judicial temperament and work ethic, four Chief Administrative Judges of New York State appointed her to positions with diverse and challenging responsibilities. As Chief of the Office of Policy and Planning (OPP), she implemented new procedures and policies for approximately three hundred problem-solving courts (PSCs) which included drug, opioid, integrated domestic violence, veterans, driving while intoxicated, human trafficking intervention, mental health and adolescent courts. She was also responsible for reviewing and suggesting new policies for the statewide foreclosure inventory. This involved implementing improvements to case processing and making the foreclosure process more transparent and user-friendly for litigants. She also met with plaintiff and defense practitioners, bank representatives and loan servicers to implement best practices.

Prior to her role as Chief of the OPP, Justice Heitler served as the Administrative Judge for Civil Matters in New York County, where she was on call 24/7 for emergency applications and was responsible for an asbestos docket comprised of thousands of cases. Before that, she served as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Term of the New York State Supreme Court, First Department, and was elected to serve in the New York County Civil Court, where she evaluated, settled and tried all types of cases.

Prior to becoming a judge, Justice Heitler served as an arbitrator in the New York Civil Court and as a founder and partner in her own law firm where she represented clients in a wide array of civil matters.

Throughout her career, Justice Heitler has been a leader in civic and community organizations and associations. She has also chaired committees and lectured for professional programs in the legal community. Justice Heitler is widely respected for her legal acumen, ability to grasp sophisticated issues with ease, dedication, and persistent and fair approach to resolving disputes.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Representative Matters

• Business & Commercial
• Mediation: involving dispute between professional sports league and ticketing platform over allegations that payments were made to ticketing platform for services that were not rendered 
• Mediation: relating to dispute between group of former clients and former law firms over attempts to recover losses clients incurred in immigration law matter
• Mediation: involving dispute between agent and real estate brokerage over alleged entitlement to commissions for sale of properties
• Mediation: involving dispute between international investment companies wherein claimant alleged that respondent breached the terms of a payment and indemnity agreement and guarantee by failing to pay claimant a multi-million-dollar fee in connection with the sale of one of respondent’s business portfolios 
• Mediation: involving tenant’s allegations that building management breached the terms of a settlement agreement between the parties
• Mediations: relating to international investment bank’s breach of contract allegations against former employees
• Mahon v. David Ellis Real Estate, L.P., 165 AD3d 600 (1st Dept 2018) (Heitler, J.): holding that lower court properly denied third-party defendant’s motion to dismiss third-party claim for contractual indemnification where relevant lease agreement stated that third-party defendant would indemnify third-party plaintiff for personal injuries arising from sidewalk accident
• Braka v. Travel Assistance Int’l, 25 AD3d 456 (1st Dept 2006) (Heitler, J.): holding that issue of fact precluded summary judgment in breach of contract action seeking payment for travel expenses incurred in evacuating plaintiff by air ambulance after injuries sustained in motor accident in Fiji 
• Employment Law
• Arbitrations: involving employee allegations of age discrimination, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), against an international technology conglomerate
• Arbitration: involving alleged violations of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York wage and hour laws against global customer care provider
• Mediation: involving allegations that commercial real estate finance company allegedly failed to make required post termination payments to claimant
• Mediation: involving alleged breach of contract and violation of the New York Labor Law (NYLL) in action between law firm partner and former firm
• Mediation: involving dispute, between attorney and law firm, over attorney’s alleged refusal to return six-figure signing bonus when attorney departed from the firm
• Mediation: involving alleged theft of employees and counterclaims in fashion industry
• As a judge, presided over many cases involving the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws; issues included discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, executive compensation and retaliation
• Family Law
• Mediation: involving financial aspect of parties’ divorce
• Mediation: involving parties’ dispute over marital premises and expenses relating to spousal and child support
• As a private practitioner, handled hundreds of matrimonial matters as principal of her law firm
• As a judge, resolved or tried complex financial and custody disputes, and conferred with other judges to help resolve high-conflict cases involving children
• As a judge, presided over a Matrimonial Part with a caseload of matters involving custody, status of the divorce, equitable distribution, child support and maintenance disputes
• Health
• As a judge, presided over New York Mental Hygiene Law hearings in the following hospitals: Bellevue Hospital Center, Metropolitan Hospital Center, Manhattan Psychiatric Center and Kirby Psychiatric Center
• As a judge, oversaw numerous mental hygiene guardianship matters, conducted hearings to determine if a person was incapacitated and in need of a guardian, and monitored cases in which a guardian had already been appointed
• Personal Injury & Tort
• Mediation: involving bicyclist hit by a rental vehicle; application of the Federal Graves Amendment to the Transportation Equity Act of 2005 was involved
• Mediation: involving allegations that claimant, who slipped and fell in front of a commercial establishment, suffered serious spinal injuries
• Mediation: involving allegations, under the New York State Adult Survivors Act, that claimant was allegedly a victim of sex trafficking by respondent
• Mediation: involving wrongful death allegations against helicopter tour operators
• A.M. v. Holy Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church of Brookville, 199 AD3d 489 (1st Dept 2021) (Heitler, J.): negligence case involving alleged sexual assault perpetrated by non-party minor on church grounds; court granted summary judgment to Archdiocese, rejecting plaintiff’s claims that defendants negligently allowed the minor to be on church grounds when they knew or should have known about the minor’s propensity for violence
• Hutchison v. Estate of Kursh, 198 AD3d 509 (1st Dept 2019) (Heitler, J.): finding that plaintiff’s testimony as to how accident occurred raised an issue of fact as to whether alleged condition of lofted area in an apartment was hazardous and whether plaintiff was injured as a result
• Birkenfeld v. UBS AG, 172 AD3d 566 (1st Dept 2019) (Heitler, J.): plaintiff pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and, as part of his plea agreement, admitted to preparing false IRS statements. Plaintiff sued for defamation after defendants published statements suggesting plaintiff was convicted for having lied to the U.S. authorities. The lower court dismissed such claims, and the First Department affirmed, finding that defendants’ statements were true, if not absolutely true
• Miller v. NYC Housing Authority, 171 AD3d 507 (1st Dept 2019) (Heitler, J.): holding that court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant’s motion to stay civil proceedings, which involved a negligence claim, until completion of criminal case against third-party defendant who allegedly sexually assaulted the plaintiff after gaining access to her apartment building
• In re: NYC Asbestos Litigation, 116 AD3d 545 (1st Dept 2014) (Heitler, J.): summary judgment motion of alleged supplier of alleged asbestos-containing laminated sheets denied where decedent testified that he was exposed to the product on a regular basis throughout this career
• As a judge, facilitated numerous settlements as coordinating judge for the New York City asbestos litigation (NYCAL) over six years, often involving large groups of plaintiffs and defendants; issued hundreds of discovery and summary judgment decisions, and heard appeals from rulings by the NYCAL special master
• As a judge, presided over all types of personal injury and tort matters, including New York Labor Law, premises liability, general negligence, construction defect, negligent hiring and supervision, wrongful death, and product liability matters
• As a judge, presided over extensive number of personal injury matters involving the City of New York, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), Con Edison, New York City Health and Hospitals, and other agencies
• Professional Liability
• Arbitration: member of tripartite panel involving malpractice allegations against law firm in connection with a corporate deal
• Mediation: involving allegations that physicians and hospital professionals failed to provide the required vaccination to claimant whose ability to fight infectious diseases had been compromised due to a prior medical procedure
• As a judge, presided over many medical malpractice cases involving alleged failure to warn, wrong diagnoses, inappropriate care and follow-up supervision
• As a judge, presided over many other professional liability cases, including those in the medical, dental, legal and architectural realms
• Real Estate & Real Property
• Mediation: involving claims for monetary damages, specific performance and cancellation of a contract arising out of sale of high-end condominium
• As a judge, presided over numerous cases involving both commercial and residential real estate, condominium and cooperative associations; issues included land use, interpretation of leases, mortgage foreclosures, receiverships and the Mitchell-Lama Program
• As a judge, presided over numerous landlord-tenant matters
• As a judge, presided over and was responsible for reviewing and suggesting new policies for the statewide foreclosure inventory

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Co-Chair, Governor’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluators, 2021–2022
• The Supreme Court Justices Association of the City of New York, 2002–present
• The Women’s Bar Association, 1999–present
• Jewish Lawyers Guild, 1994–present
• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1993–present
• The New York State Bar Association, 1993–present
• Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (JALBCA), 1992–present
• Fordham Law School Advisory Council, 1990–present
• New York County Lawyers Association, 1979–present
• Fordham Law Alumni Association, 1977–present

Selected Awards and Honors

• New York Women's Bar Association
• Florence E. Allen Award, 2022
• Doris S. Hoffman Service Award, 2015
• President’s Special Award, 2010
• New York County Lawyers’ Association
• Boris Kostelanetz President’s Medal, 2015
• Justice Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award, Committee on the Supreme Court, 2012
• Civil Court Practice Section Award, 2010
• New York State Assembly Citation, 2013
• New York City Trial Lawyers Association, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone Memorial Award, 2013
• Supreme Court, First Department, Gender Fairness Committee, Women's History Month Award, 2013
• Association of Law Secretaries to the Justices of the Supreme and Surrogates’ Courts, Award for Distinguished Service to the Courts, 2012
• Jewish Lawyers Guild, Cardozo Award, 2010

Selected Publications and Media References

• PODCAST: “From the Bronx to the Bench: Judge Sherry Klein Heitler's Unconventional Journey Beyond the Bar,” Beyond the Bar, April 2, 2024 
• A Familial Responsibility: FLAA Board Members Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler ’76 Ret.) and Jill Heitler Blomberg ’97 Share a Dedication to Giving Back,” Fordham Law News, October 30, 2023 
• PODCAST: JAMS Neutrals Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler (Ret.) and Hon. Richard F. McDermott (Ret.) Discuss the Benefits of and Strategy Behind Using ADR in Resolving PI Disputes, JAMS ADR Insights, October 17, 2022 
• “5 Benefits of Mediation for Family Law Dispute Resolution,” JAMS ADR Insights, July 13, 2022 
• Focusing on Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Conversation with Two JAMS Neutrals, Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin (Ret.) and Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler (Ret.), New York Law Journal, November 1, 2021
• “Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler (Ret.) Joins JAMS in New York,” JAMS press release, September 27, 2021 
• “For Judges, a Sunday Unlike Any Other,” The New York Times, July 14, 2011 
• As Chief of the Office of Policy and Planning, Justice Heitler oversaw the publication of numerous manuals that were distributed at the conferences to update judges and court personnel regarding new laws, trial techniques and case updates

Background and Education

• Interim Dean of the New York State Judicial Institute, Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks, January–May 2021
• Justice of the New York State Supreme Court
  • Chief of Policy and Planning for the New York State Court System, Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti, 2015–2020
  • Administrative Judge, Civil Matters, First Judicial District, New York County, Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau, 2009–2015
  • Associate Justice, Appellate Term, First Judicial Department, Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman, 2007–2009
  • Supreme Court Justice, Elected (certificated three times), 2000–2020
• Acting Justice, New York Supreme Court
  • Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman, 1996–2000
• Judge (elected), Civil Court, City of New York, 1994
• Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law, 2010–2023
• Instructor, Bernard Baruch College, City of New York, 1981–1985
• Partner, Heitler & Levy, P.C., 1979–1993
• Law Assistant, Civil Court, City of New York, 1977–1979
• Assistant Director of Admissions, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, 1966–1973
• J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 1976
• M.A., New York University, 1966
• B.A., Hunter College of the City of New York, 1965

• New York State, First Judicial Department, 1977