Justice Gavrin continues commitment to Queens after nearly 30 years on the bench

Justice Darrell Gavrin has dedicated her professional career to the Queens legal system. Eagle photo by Andy Katz

By Rachel Vick

Justice Darrell Gavrin has dedicated her professional life to the Queens legal system, a commitment marked by nearly three decades on the bench in her home borough.

Gavrin, who is up for reelection next month, said the job of the judiciary transcends typical work. 

“You’re dealing with people’s lives,” Gavrin said. “If you look at it that way, not just as a job or a salary but as an investment, especially because Queens is my community. It’s part of my life.”

After graduating from Hofstra Law, Gavrin worked in private practice for about a year. She moved on to serve as counsel to the Board of Standards and Appeals before becoming a small claims arbitrator in Queens Civil Court. In 1991, she began serving as principal law clerk. 

Two years later, she earned a seat on the Criminal Court bench and has served as a judge in Criminal, Civil and Family Courts. She became an Acting Supreme Court justice in 1999 and was elected to her first term on the Supreme Court bench in 2006.

To become a judge, Gavrin said she had to dig her heels in and not fall to social pressures to become a homemaker not a dream-chaser. Her commitment dates back to high school, when she deliberately chose shop class over home economics or typing, and continued through her early days in the legal field, she said.

“I went to a law school that was more progressive than most but it was difficult in the respect that once you actually passed the bar and you were a female, there were a lot of obstacles in getting your first job or pushing past what an attorney should look like,” Gavrin said. “To even be a law secretary or principal law clerk or judge when they were almost all male — that’s just what it was. A lot of male judges weren’t hiring [women] as principal law clerks.”

“It was difficult to find a mentor that was a woman attorney, and most people who helped me were men so I said to myself, women should be helping women,” she added. “I try to help everyone, and do these things that would help young women, because it’s still very difficult.”

The legal culture has evolved significantly, to the point where women account for more law school students than men, but Gavrin said she still fights for the same respect as her male counterparts.

“You’re in the courtroom and not everyone knows you're the judge, even when you sit on the bench, they still question, ‘Are you the judge?’” she said “It’s still a mindset.” 

Gavrin said she revels in the opportunity to learn more about the topics covered in cases and about the different lives of the people who pass through her courtroom while engaging with people at the top of their fields.

From malpractice cases that gave glimpses into the world of medicine to lessons in human nature while serving on the bench of the Matrimonial part, where she said “felt she could do the most to help,” to the most widely applicable lesson she learned in her position – patience.

“You have to listen,” Gavrin said. “It teaches you from the first day on the bench when you think  you can do it, to actually doing it and trying to get it right.”

“It’s not a matter of whether or not the appellate division will affirm or reverse you, you just try to get it right so you can go to sleep knowing that you did the best you can.”

Gavrin’s childhood decision to pursue a career in law set in motion a path that would change the family business from pharmacists to attorneys. Her children have followed in her footsteps.

She has also served as a guest lecturer and mentor to as many interns as possible to help them gain experience.

For the students struggling to find their place in a world turned upside down by COVID-19,  “doing well academically opens the door” and finding your passion makes all the difference, Gavrin said. 

“If you don’t find you like one particular area of law don’t get stuck,” she added. “I see so many disgruntled attorneys. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. That’s with law, or anything.”