By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced 14 judicial appointments and reappointments to Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court. Specifically, Adams appointed two Family Court judges and three Criminal Court judges, and reappointed two Family Court judges, six Criminal Court judges, and one interim Civil Court judge.
Adams appointed the following judges to Criminal Court:
Judge Anthony Battisti was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in December 2021 and has been serving in Criminal Court since then. He was a former Queens County assistant district attorney with assignments to the Intake, Criminal Court, Grand Jury, and Supreme Court Bureaus. After several years, he entered a law partnership which he eventually left to start his own practice. Prior to his appointment, Judge Battisti was a private practitioner in Queens for 27 years, specializing in criminal defense and residential real estate.
Judge Diego Freire was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in December 2021 and has been serving in Criminal Court since then. Judge Freire began his legal career with The Legal Aid Society, Queens County Criminal Defense Practice in 2007. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2021, he was a senior staff attorney holding the dual title of adolescent intervention and diversion attorney.
Judge Craig Ortner was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in February 2023 and has been serving in Criminal Court since then. Judge Ortner was a former associate with Proskauer Rose LLP before leaving to clerk with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida and United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Jacksonville, Florida. He then returned to New York and served with the New York County District Attorney’s Office for over 19 years, holding various titles, including criminal court supervisor in Trial Bureau 80 and deputy bureau chief in Trial Bureau 60.
Adams appointed the following judges to Family Court:
Judge Cynthia Lopez was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in June 2021 and has been serving in Family Court since then. Judge Lopez began her legal career with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services as an agency attorney. She went on to hold various titles, including but not limited to assistant supervising attorney of Queens Family Court Legal Services and supervising attorney of Manhattan and Staten Island Family Court Legal Services. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2021, she served as borough chief of the Brooklyn Family Court Legal Services.
Judge Marjorie Steinberg was first appointed as an interim Civil Court judge in April 2023 and has been serving in Family Court since then. Judge Steinberg initially worked at a private firm as an associate attorney with a focus on custody, visitation, domestic violence, matrimonial, guardianship, and neglect litigation. She then served with The Children’s Law Center as a staff attorney and subsequently as deputy director. Judge Steinberg then joined the New York State Unified Court System and was first assigned to the Richmond County Supreme Court as a court attorney in the Integrated Domestic Violence Part, then as principal court attorney in the All-Purpose Matrimonial Part.
