Singh becomes first Asian-American named to NY judicial watchdog panel

New York State Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson has appointed Justice Anil C. Singh, an associate justice of the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, First Department, to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Singh is the first Asian-American to serve on the Commission, an independent state agency that reviews complaints of ethical misconduct against judges and justices of the state’s Unified Court System and, where appropriate, renders public disciplinary determinations.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is made up of 11 members, with four appointed by the Governor, three appointed by the Chief Judge, and one each appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, the Minority Leader of the Assembly, the Majority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the Senate.

“Justice Singh is a pillar of New York’s legal community. His distinguished service to the court system spans four decades, including over 20 years of service on the New York state bench,” Wilson said in a news release.

“He is widely regarded by his colleagues and the community as a fair, hardworking, and compassionate judge whose integrity is indisputable. Along with these fine qualities, Justice Singh brings a wealth of knowledge and diverse experience to the Commission and its vital work,” Wilson wrote.

“I want to thank Chief Judge Wilson for the opportunity to serve on the Commission on Judicial Conduct. I appreciate his vision, which I share, that our institutions should reflect our communities. I look forward to fairly and justly adjudicating matters before the Commission,” Singh said in the news release.

Singh was elevated to a seat in the First Department in May 2017, becoming the first person of South Asian descent to sit on an appellate court in New York. He hears over 500 appeals a year, with the Court’s docket comprising criminal, civil, commercial, and family matters.

His ascension to the bench began with his 2002 election to the New York City Civil Court, where he presided over jury, non-jury, and small claims cases. He was designated an acting state Supreme Court Justice in April 2010, serving in New York County, where he conducted jury and non-jury tort and commercial trials.

He also served as a presiding justice in the Court’s Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement Part. Some of his memorandum decisions have been published in the Official Reports, the New York Law Journal and Westlaw.

Singh was elected to state Supreme Court, New York County, in November 2013. In April 2015, he was assigned to the Court’s Commercial Division, where he presided over real property cases, contract disputes, commercial class actions and other complex business matters.

He first joined the New York State court system as a principal court attorney, serving in New York City Civil Court and State Supreme Court, New York County, from 1987 through 2002.

Singh is a graduate of the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. He was born in Gazipur, India and immigrated to the United States as a teenager.

Prior to his appointment to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, Singh had been serving on the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which provides ethics advice to judges, justices and quasi-judicial officials of the Unified Court System in accordance with the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct.

[email protected] / (585) 232-2035