For most veteran journalists that have covered the Brooklyn community and government for any length of time, attorney Hemalee J. Patel is a familiar face when it comes to public service.
Whether seeing her as the former active Community Board 2 member in Downtown Brooklyn, being a Girls Scout Troop leader in Bay Ridge where she now lives with her husband and two children, showing up at a multiple local Democratic Club functions or at public meetings on local concerns, one often finds Patel as an attentive listener, leader and concerned citizen.
Patel is now stepping up her public service game as she seeks to become a civil court judge in the 6th Municipal District covering voters roughly in Northern Park Slope, Lefferts Gardens and down the strip of Brooklyn between Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Avenue to Avenue M and including Brooklyn College.
Currently, Patel serves as a Court Attorney-Referee in Richmond County (Staten Island) Supreme Court, where she conduct trials and hearings on financial issues in matrimonial matters, including equitable distribution, child support and maintenance. And while she understands legislative government, she remains drawn to the judicial branch and helping immigrants and less moneyed people navigate the often daunting judicial system, and leaving with the feeling they had a fair and just day in court.
“The quality of our lives is directly and deeply influenced by those who serve the public and I consider myself privileged to be a civil servant—and try always to be one in the truest sense. This means, to my mind, that I must not only do my best, but convey that intention by being at all times honest, fair and courteous to the parties and attorneys who appear before me,” said Patel. “Beyond that, I believe that the quality of my work and persona must inspire confidence in our judicial system and address the needs and requirements of both the litigants and the court.”
Patel road to becoming a professional civil servant starts with a typical immigrant’s story of her father first coming to America from India, and saving enough money to bring Patel, than five, and her mother to this country, where the family settled in Queens. After graduating from New York University, Patel came to the borough in 1988 to attend Brooklyn Law School and has been here ever since.
Besides practicing law in private practices, Patel also has lengthy experience in the judicial system having worked as a Supreme Court clerk in both New York and Kings County under the Judges Deborah A. Kaplan and Rachel A. Adams.
Besides her aforementioned work in the community, Patel is a member of several legal associations including the Brooklyn Bar Association, the Brooklyn Womens Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association of New York and the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association.
“As an immigrant South Asian woman I have a unique perspective that, along with my background, experience and proven ability in performing the duties and responsibilities of a Court Attorney-Referee, prepares me to undertake a career as a judge,” said Petal.
“In my personal life I have strived to be a positive influence in my various communities, and to be a role model for my children, as I deeply believe in my responsibility to change my world for the better,” she added.
Although only residents in the 6th Municipal District can vote in the upcoming primary, the chief administrative court system can assign the eventual winner throughout the civil, supreme and family court unified state system.
Also in the 6th Municipal District Civil Court Judge primary race are attorneys Elena P. Barron, Derefim B. Neckles and Rupert V. Barry. The Democratic Primary is Sept. 12. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
