Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2024 after a distinguished career as New York City’s 81st corporation counsel and as a jurist in New York state courts, including, most recently, her service from 2012 to 2022 as an associate justice of the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Judicial Department.

Judge Hinds-Radix, the first Caribbean-born person and woman of color and second woman overall to serve as corporation counsel, oversaw the wide-ranging operations of the New York City Law Department. As the city’s chief legal officer, she led the department primarily responsible for providing legal representation to the city, its mayor and other elected officials, and its myriad agencies in civil litigations. She also oversaw the operations of the Family Court Division, the city’s prosecutorial arm in Family Court. As corporation counsel, she created new divisions for Ethics & Compliance and Risk Management, promoted the health and safety of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic and secured housing for thousands of individuals during the migrant crisis. Indeed, she negotiated a landmark agreement with the Legal Aid Society in Callahan v. Carey, which provided New York City with the flexibility to respond to migrants’ needs during this emergency. Under Judge Hinds-Radix’s guidance, the department promoted economic development within the city and recovered tens of millions of dollars in affirmative lawsuits.

Judge Hinds-Radix presided over and resolved many cases through pretrial rulings, bench and jury trials, judgments and settlement conferences. She served as an associate justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department and, in 2020, was designated a member of the New York State Constitutional Bench. She also served as the administrative judge for civil matters for the Second Judicial District, was elected (and reelected) justice of the New York State Supreme Court and served as a judge in New York City’s civil and criminal courts. As a seasoned jurist, she handled matters spanning a wide range of practice areas across many industries, including those in the appellate, bankruptcy, complex business and commercial, employment and labor, family law, governmental/public agency, personal injury, professional liability and real estate (including foreclosure and landlord-tenant) realms, among others.

Judge Hinds-Radix began her legal career at District Council 37, one of the city’s largest public employee unions. Her roles within the union included those of chief counsel for the Immigration Program, a program that she founded; supervising attorney for the Landlord and Tenant Division; and senior attorney in the Consumer Litigation and Bankruptcy unit.

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Keneally, Lynch & Bak, LLP v. Salvi, 190 A.D.3d 961 (2d Dep’t 2021): Action involving enforceability of agreement to purchase defendant’s existing law practice, which contained noncompete provision prohibiting defendant from practicing law within 15-mile radius of office
• Breakstone Group, Ltd. v. Randall, 172 A.D.3d 671 (2d Dep’t 2019): Action for specific performance for the sale of real property and to recover damages for breach of contract
• Civil Rights
• People v. Hamilton, 115 A.D.3d 12 (2d Dep’t 2014): Case wherein court held that a freestanding claim of actual innocence is cognizable in New York, and that a defendant who establishes their actual innocence by clear and convincing evidence is entitled to relief under New York Criminal Process Law Section 440.10(1)(h), as the conviction or incarceration of a guiltless person runs afoul of the New York State Constitution's Due Process Clause, and the punishment of an actually innocent person violates the New York State Constitution's provision prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments 
• Employment Law
• Johnson v. Department of Education of City of New York, 158 A.D.3d 744 (2d Dep’t 2018): Action by tenured high school teacher to recover damages for employment discrimination on the basis of age and unlawful retaliation in violation of the Administrative Code of the City of New York; plaintiff alleged that defendants harassed her, performed biased evaluations, failed to offer her remediation and engaged in disparate treatment in class assignments and other requests
• Family Law
• Matter of Gomez v. Martinez, 188 A.D.3d 682 (2d Dep’t 2021): Remitting matter to Family Court for in camera interview with subject child, preparation of updated forensic report and a new determination of New York mother’s permission to relocate to New Jersey
• Personal Injury
• Estate of Feenin v. Bombace Wine & Spirits, Inc., 188 A.D.3d 1001 (2d Dep’t 2020): Action by decedent's son, as executor of estate, individually and as guardian of three children to, among other things, recover damages pursuant to New York General Obligations Law Section 11-101, also known as the Dram Shop Act, based on allegations that plaintiffs had been injured as result of illegal sale of alcohol by defendants
• Santoro v. Poughkeepsie Crossings, LLC, 180 A.D.3d 12 (2d Dep’t 2019): Addressing issue whether defendant third-party plaintiff, which owned and operated residential health care facility, stated cause of action against third-party defendant for indemnification or contribution for injuries sustained while a patient was treated at the facility
• Davydov v. Board of Managers of Forestal Condominium, 185 A.D.3d 548 (2d Dep’t 2020): Action for personal injuries or, in the alternative, a Frye hearing on the admissibility of expert testimony on issue of causation; alleging defects in construction of condominium allegedly resulting in presence of toxin-producing molds in unit and toxin in plaintiff’s urine, and allegedly resulting in a number of health ailments
• Professional Liability
• Alskom Realty LLC v. Baranik, 189 A.D.3d 746 (2d Dep’t 2020): Action, inter alia, to recover damages for accounting malpractice in connection with defendants' preparation of federal income tax return 
• Sierra Holdings, LLC v. Phillips, Weiner, Quinn Artura & Cox, 112 A.D.3d 909 (2d Dep’t 2013): Action to recover damages for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, wherein plaintiffs, as holders of second mortgage on subject property, alleged that defendants were negligent in failing to notify them of scheduled foreclosure sale in action commenced by first mortgagee; plaintiffs alleged that, had they been notified, they would have appeared in the sale, purchased the property and resold the property for an amount that would have enabled them to recoup some or all of the amount of the second mortgage extinguished as a result of sale
• Lyakhovich v. Vernov, 185 A.D.3d 566 (2d Dep’t 2020): Action involving treatment of infant that allegedly resulted in subacute bacterial endocarditis, necessitating surgery to preserve mitral valve function; addressing issue of what is required in medical malpractice actions to establish prima facie showing that there was no departure from good and accepted medical practice or that the plaintiff was not injured thereby
• Real Property
• Gridley v. Turnbury Village, LLC, 196 A.D.3d 95 (2d Dep’t 2021): Action involving allegation that defendant owner of 95-unit residential building was engaged in fraudulent scheme to deregulate the plaintiff's apartment
• Hudson City Savings Bank v. DePasquale, 189 A.D.3d 1558 (2d Dep’t 2020): Action to foreclose a mortgage secured by real property located in Dobbs Ferry, New York; defendants asserted several affirmative defenses, including that the plaintiff failed to comply with New York Real Property Act, Section 1304

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations 

• Co-Founder and President, Caribbean American Lawyers Association (CALA)
• Master Emeritus, Nathan R. Sobel American Inns of Court
• Former President
  • Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association
  • Nathan R. Sobel American Inns of Court
  • Supreme Court Justices Association of the City of New York
• Former Second Vice President, The Judicial Friends Association
• Member of the Board of Directors
  • COMFED Section, New York State Bar Association
  • New York State Continuing Education Board
  • Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association
  • John’s Bread and Life Agency
  • Metropolitan Black Bar Association (former Member)
• Member
  • Appellate Division, Second Department – Task Force to Study the Interplay of Artificial Intelligence [AI] and the Courts
  • Association of Black Women Attorneys
  • Association of Supreme Court Justices of the City of New York
  • Brooklyn Bar Association
  • Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association
  • Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc.
  • Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn
  • Judges & Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (JALBCA)
  • Latino Judges Association
  • Metropolitan Black Bar Association
  • National Bar Association
  • New York County Lawyers Association
  • New York State Association of Supreme Court Justices
  • New York State Bar Association, Judicial Section
  • Puerto Rican Bar Association
  • The Judicial Friends
  • The Tribune Society
    
    

Selected Awards and Honors 

• Public Servant of the Year Award, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, 2024
• Founders Award, Caribbean-American Lawyers Association, 2024
• Distinguished Judicial Service Award, Brooklyn Bar Association, 2023
• The Honorable George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award, COMFED Section, New York State Bar Association, 2023
• Betty Weinberg Ellerin Mentoring Award, Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, 2023
• Honoree, The Network of Bar Leaders, 2023
• Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Vanguard Award, Trial Lawyers Section, New York State Bar Association, 2022
• Outstanding Public Service Award, Defense Association of New York, 2022
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, 2022
• Caribbean Research Center’s Women’s Heritage Award, Medgar Evers College, 2022
• Theodore “Ted” Jones Lifetime Achievement Award, Unified Court System Committee to Celebrate Black History Month, The Tribune Society and the Judicial Friends Association, 2021
• William C. Thompson, Sr. Black History Month Award for Judicial Excellence, 2021
• Diversity Trailblazer Award, New York State Bar Association, 2019
• Shirley Chisholm Award in Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Barbados’ Independence
• Patricia Lynn Outstanding Service Award, Association of Black Women’s Attorneys, 2016
• Sybil Hart Kooper Award, Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, 2015
• Scholarships in Honor of Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix
  • Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association
  • University of the West Indies
• Golda Meir Award, Jewish Lawyers Guild, 2010
• Beatrice M. Judge Award, Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, 2010
• Distinguished Judiciary Award, Catholic Lawyers Guild, 2010
• Gold Crown of Merit, Governor General of Barbados (one of the nation’s highest honors), 2005
• Gamma lot Lambda Chapter’s PHI Award, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, 2002
  
  

Selected Presentations and Speaking Engagements 

• Keynote Speaker, New York Law School, 132nd Commencement Ceremony, May 2024
• Speaker, The New York Coalition of One Hundred Black Women, April 2024
• Speaker, “The Federal Practice Bench-Bar Symposium,” The New Jersey State Bar Association and the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey, April 2024
• Keynote Speaker, Black History Month, Queen’s District Attorney’s Office, February 2024
• Keynote Speaker, “Women on the Move 2023: Navigating the Path to Your Success,” New York State Bar Association, Women in Law Section, October 2023
• Speaker, “NJD 60th Anniversary Event – New York – Being Heard and Ensuring Fairness,” The National Judicial College, September 2023
• Keynote Speaker, Law Day 2023, Kings County Supreme Court, May 2023
• Keynote Speaker, ‘“Build and Grow,’ Women’s Professional Conference Networking Event,” National Association of Women Judges and Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Foundation, March 2023
• Speaker, “Fireside Chat,” Association of Black Women Attorneys, February 2023
• Speaker, National Hispanic Heritage Month, The City of New York Law Department, September 2022
• Speaker, “Discussion Forum: COVID-19’s Impact on Legal Practice,” American Inns of Court, September 2020
   

Selected Media References 

• “Former Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix Writes Farewell Letter to Staffers,” Caribbean Life, July 4, 2024
• “Farewell to a Trailblazer: Hinds-Radix Reflects on Historic Tenure as Corporation Counsel,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 3, 2024
• “Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix Celebrated at MBBA’s Gala Alongside the 1st Black Chief Judge,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 6, 2024
• “New York Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix Named Keynote Speaker at New York Law School’s 132nd Commencement,” New York Law School News, May 1, 2024
• “The 2024 Power of Diversity: Black 100, Trailblazing Leaders from Harlem, Brooklyn and Across New York,” City and State New York, Feb. 5, 2024
• “The 2023 Brooklyn Power 100: The Political Royalty of Kings County,” City and State New York, July 31, 2023
• “Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebration: Caribbean Jurist Sylvia Hinds-Radix Serves as NYC Corporation Counsel,” Caribbean Life, June 21, 2023
• “Law Scholarship Launched to Honor Barbadian Jurist,” Caribbean Life, Nov. 3, 2022
• “Barbados PM Joins Tribute to New NYC Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix,” Caribbean Life, March 24, 2022
• “The 2022 Law Power 100: The Legal Minds Influencing New York City and State Politics,” City and State New York, March 7, 2022
• “NYC Council Confirms Sylvia Hinds-Radix as City’s First Female Caribbean-Born Corporation Counsel,” Law.com, Feb. 25, 2022

Background and Education

• Corporation Counsel, New York City, 2022–2024
• Associate Justice, Appellate Division, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Judicial Department, 2012–2022
• Member, New York State Constitutional Bench, 2020 (designated)
• Administrative Judge for Civil Matters, Second Judicial District, New York State Supreme Court, 2009–2012
• Judge, New York State Supreme Court
  • Elected, 2004
  • Reelected, 2018
• Judge, New York City Civil Court, 2002–2004
• Judge, New York City Criminal Court, 2002–2003
• District Council 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 1985–2001
  • Chief Counsel, Immigration Program
  • Supervising Attorney, Landlord and Tenant Division
  • Senior Attorney, Consumer Litigation Unit and Bankruptcy
  • Pro Bono Attorney
• D., Howard University School of Law
• A., Political Science, Long Island University
• S., University of Massachusetts
• Honorary Doctorate, New York Law School, 2024
• Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Metropolitan College of New York
  
  

Bar Admissions

• New York
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• United States District Court, Southern District of New York
• United States District Court, Eastern District of New York