Hon. L. Priscilla Hall (Ret.) brings more than 30 years of experience on the bench, having served New York State with distinction. Appointed by Governor David A. Paterson, Judge Hall served as an associate justice of the State of New York Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, for nine years. Prior to this, she served as the administrative judge of the Criminal Division of the Kings County Supreme Court.

Twice elected as a justice to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Judge Hall presided over criminal and civil matters and volunteered to serve in Family Court. Her diverse career has spanned the fields of law, public service and community service as a means to maintain the public’s confidence in our judicial system. She has experience in multiple spheres, having served as a corporate attorney for General Electric, an assistant district attorney in New York County, inspector general of the New York State Department of Employment, assistant attorney general at the New York City Department of Employment and inspector general of the New York City Human Resources Administration.

Throughout her career, Judge Hall has been a leader in civic and community organizations and associations, and she is frequently invited to speak about justice and inclusion. She has served as president of the New York State Association of Women Justices, vice-president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, chair of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and president of the Association of Black Women Attorneys. Most recently, she was appointed to serve on the New York City Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Judiciary.

After graduating magna cum laude from Howard University with the distinction of being a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Justice Hall pursued a Master of Science from Columbia University School of Journalism, graduating in 1969. She received her Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law in 1973.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Over her more than 30 years on the bench, Judge Hall has presided over thousands of cases involving matters the following areas:

• Banking
• Business/Commercial
• Civil Rights
• Class Action and Mass Torts
• Construction
• Education Law
• Employment Law 
• Governmental/Public Agency
• Insurance 
• Personal Injury/Torts
• Real Property
• Securities

Selected examples of Judge Hall’s cases include the following:

Matter of Jourdain v. NYS Div. of Hous. & Community Renewal, 159 AD3d 41 (2018): Holding that a family member who had been residing in an apartment with the tenant for years and had the right to seek succession when the tenant moved out of the apartment lost that right by virtue of the fact that the tenant continued to pay the rent and executed a renewal lease after moving out

Andryeyeva v. New York Health Care, Inc., 158 A.D.3d 1216 (2017): Affirming putative class action to recover damages for violations of Labor Law article 19 and CPLR article 9; defendants paid home health care attendants for elderly and disabled clients an hourly rate for the 12 daytime hours of their 24-hour shift but contended they were permitted to pay a flat rate for 12 nighttime hours by excluding eight hours of sleep time and three hours of meal time from the home attendants’ wages so long as that time for sleep and meals was actually afforded

Matter of Naquan L.G. and Carolyn C., 2016 NY Slip Op 04218 (2016): After a reconstruction hearing had been completed, denying a mother’s motion to vacate the judicial surrenders of her parental rights executed on January 20, 2011, for children who had been in kinship foster care since 2008

State of NY v. Claude McC, 122 A.D.3d (2014): Holding that the respondent’s conviction of a non-sex offense that he committed while on post-release supervision for an underlying sex offense was a related offense and that the respondent was in the custody of DOCCS when the instant Mental Hygiene Law article 10 petition was filed

Matter of Edward, 121 AD3d 336 (2014): Holding that a person who unlawfully kills another should not be permitted to inherit the victim’s assets indirectly through the estate of the victim’s daughter

Distressed Holdings, LLC v. Ehrler, 113 AD3d, 111 (2013): Holding the respondent violated the Exempt Income Protection Act, CPLR 5222-a, and violated the judgement debtor’s due process rights when it failed to timely send her a copy of the restraining notice, the exemption notice and the two exemption claim forms, which resulted in the debtor’s bank account being constrained without any notice to her or any opportunity to claim that certain funds in the account were exempt from debt collection

Hyatt v. Cal. Franchise Tax Bd, 105 AD3d 186 (2013): Holding that New York courts may exercise judicial review over administratively issued subpoenas that were served in New York in connection with a California tax proceeding pursuant to CPLR 3119

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Fitzgerald, 112 AD3d 166, (2013): Holding that a police vehicle qualifies as a “motor vehicle” as that term is used in a certain supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist endorsement

Minogue v. Good Samaritan Hosp., 100 AD3d 64 (2012): Declining plaintiff’s invitation to depart from its precedent in Pipia v. Nassau County (34 AD3d 664) and holding that the institution of a cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law section 741 does not constitute a waiver of other causes of action relating to the alleged retaliatory discharge; plaintiff alleged that the hospital’s practice of placing highly acutely ill and mechanically ventilated patients on non-critical floors without increasing the number of experienced nurses on those floors violated 10 NYCRR parts 405 and 407

Mussara v. Mega Funworks, Inc., 100 AD3d 185 (2012): Modifying Supreme Court order granting summary judgement that found that plaintiff assumed the risk of his injuries by voluntarily riding down a waterslide and that his weight, which was in excess of the weight limitation imposed for the waterslide, and his failure to pull back on certain handles while exiting the waterslide were the only proximate causes of his injuries

Matter of Seidel v. Board of Assessors, County of Nassau, 88 AD3d 369 (2011): Holding that Nassau County may not consider improvements made to real property after the taxable status date in assessing property values for the particular tax year to which the taxable status date applies

Haines v. Dick’s Concrete Co., Inc., 84 A.D. 3d 732 (2011): Labor Law case wherein the plaintiff, a truck driver, alleged he fell in the parking lot of the premises owned by defendant PJ Quarry Inc. and owned by defendant Dick’s Concrete while removing a set of tarps attached to a load of masonry materials on the back of the plaintiff’s employer’s flatbed truck; plaintiff claimed defendants violated Labor Law sections 240 (1), 241 (6) and 200; defendants moved and plaintiff cross-moved for summary judgement; the bench granted defendants’ motion dismissing all three claims on the ground that the defendants did not have the authority to supervise or control the performance of the plaintiff’s work and the plaintiff did not raise a triable issue of fact

People v. Warren Davis, 86 AD3d 59 (2011): Holding the Supreme Court did not err when it denied defendant’s request to impeach the verdict on the ground that the jury failed to apply the trial court’s instructions on the law and instead relied on the “expertise” of a juror who was an attorney

Matter of Frankel v. Citicorp Ins. Servs, Inc., 80 AD3d 280 (2010): Plaintiff, who enrolled in a “voluntary flight insurance program,” which automatically billed him the sum of $13 whenever he purchased airplane tickets with his credit card under an agreement that the defendant could unilaterally change any of the terms of at any time and which 14 years later added terms that provided any dispute would be subject to mandatory, binding arbitration on an individual basis; plaintiff commenced this putative class action on behalf of himself and all others who have been erroneously charged for flight insurance

Judge Hall gained experience in many areas on the bench, including the following:

Representative Matters

• Business/Commercial
Breach of contract, insurance coverage disputes, shareholder derivative actions, partnership disputes, corporate governance issues, trade secrets, business divorce
• Construction
Claims involving allegations of work defects, design defects, unauthorized change orders, delays, breach of contract
• Employment Law
Individual and multi-party claims of discrimination (race, gender, age, disability, national origin sexual orientation); ADA/failure to accommodate; retaliation and harassment; executive compensation (bonuses, commissions, severance, equity valuation), wage and hour and FLSA individual, class and collective actions (overtime, unlawful deductions, exemptions, off the clock, tip misappropriation, fluctuating work week); noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements
• Insurance
Complex coverage claims, claims under directors and officers (D&O) and other types of policies, including errors and omissions (E&O), commercial general liability (CGL), employment practices liability (EPL), property, health, life, excess coverage
• Personal Injury Torts
Medical malpractice; nursing home neglect; wrongful death (industrial accidents, automobile rollover); product liability; premises liability; sexual assault; wrongful use of civil proceedings; rules of professional conduct
• Real Estate & Real Property
Partnerships, condominium association/owners and commercial real estate/developer disputes, receiverships

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Board Member at Large, National Bar Association (Elected in 2020 to 2022 term)
• Secretary and Board Member, Common Justice
• Board Member, Friends of Marcy Houses
• Member, Association of Black Women Attorneys
• Member, Metropolitan Black Bar Association
• Member, Task Force on Racial Injustice and Police Reform, New York State Bar Association
• Member, Brooklyn Bar Association
• Member, New York City Bar Association
• Vice Chair, Deacon Ministry of Brooklyn Community Church, 2010–present.

Selected Awards and Honors

• Justice William C. Thompson, Sr. Award; Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department; Kings County Black History Month, 2019
• Myles A. Paige Award, Judicial Friends Inc., 2018
• Commitment to Diversity Award, Amistad Bar Association, 2018
• Honorable L. Priscilla Hall Leadership Academy, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, 2018
• Induction into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame, 2018
• William H. Hastie Award, Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, 2018
• Patricia L. Irvin Outstanding Service Award, Association of Black Women Attorneys 41st Annual Gala, 2017
• Sister of the Year Award, Brooklyn Community Church, Rev. Dr. Fred Lucas, Senior Pastor, 2016
• Legal Excellence Award, Queens County Bar Association, 2015
• Legal Leadership Award, Brooklyn NAACP, Annual Freedom Fund Dinner, 2015
• Excellence and Commitment Stalwart Service to the Bar Award, Region II of the National Bar Association, Annual Convention, 2014
• Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, Third Annual Shirley Chisolm Women’s Empowerment Conference, Awarded by U.S. Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, 2014
• Constance Baker Motley Judicial Excellence Award, Westchester Black Bar Association, 2012
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Award; Brooklyn Community Church; 2012

Special Appointments

• Appointed by Federal Monitor Peter L. Zimroth to oversee compliance by the New York Police Department (NYPD) with Stop, Question and Frisk laws, specifically overseeing a pilot program for officers to wear body-worn cameras, 2021
• New York City Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Judiciary, Appointed by Mayor Bill De Blasio, 2020
• Milton Mollen Commitment to Excellence Award Executive Committee, Appointed by Honorable A. Gail Prudenti, 2012

Background and Education

• Associate Justice, State of New York Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, 2009–2018
• Administrative Judge, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County Criminal Term, 2008–2009
• Adjunct Professor, Fordham University School of Law, Summers 2001–2004
• Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Judicial District, 1993–2018

• Family Court, 2006

• Judge, New York State Court of Claims, 1990–1994
• Acting Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County, 1990
• Judge, Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1986–1990
• Inspector General, New York City Human Resources Administration, 1982–1986
• Assistant Attorney General, New York State Department of Law, 1982
• Inspector General, New York City Department of Employment, 1979–1982
• Assistant District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney, New York County Criminal Court Assistant, 1974–1979
• Corporate Attorney, General Electric, 1973–1974
• Bar Admissions

• United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2005
• Supreme Court of the United States, 1978
• United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 1976
• New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, 1974

• J.D., Columbia University School of Law, 1973
• M.S., with Honors, Columbia University School of Journalism, 1969
• B.A., magna cum laude, Howard University, 1968