State Supreme Court justice retiring after misconduct allegations

A state Supreme Court justice in Rockland County has agreed to retire after being accused of misconduct.

Justice Sherri L. Eisenpress, who was charged by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for failing to disclose personal relationships and other conflicts with numerous attorneys who appeared before her, has agreed to retire and never return to the bench.

Her retirement is effective April 28, 2026.

In August, Eisenpress was served with formal disciplinary charges, alleging:

• From 2019 to 2024, she presided over at least 55 cases involving attorneys with whom she maintained close personal and social relationships, and failed to disclose those relationships or to recuse herself.
• From 2016 to 2025, she presided over at least 41 cases involving the law firm of her principal law clerk’s spouse, and failed to disclose the relationship and to insulate law clerk from involvement in those cases.
• In 2022, she presided over a matrimonial matter in which the lawyer for one party was co-hosting a fundraiser for her judicial campaign. The judge issued a temporary custody order in favor of the attorney’s client, and only recused herself from the matter after the defendant’s attorney sought her disqualification due to the relationship.
• In 2024, she presided over a matter in which a party was represented by her law clerk’s husband, she denied a request that she disqualify herself, and later stepped aside for unrelated reasons.

Eisenpress has served as a Supreme Court justice since 2023. Previously she served as Family Court judge from 2012 to 2022, and an acting Supreme Court justice from 2014 to 2022.

Her current term would have expired on Dec. 31, 2036.