Attorney Lola Waterman is vying for Kings County Civil Court Judge in the 2nd Municipal District, covering parts of Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
Waterman made Brooklyn her home 11 years ago and is currently a resident of Bedford Stuyvesant, and in her spare time, gives back to her community by hosting legal clinics, judicial panels and Know Your Rights seminars.
She’s not currently backed by a political club, and said she is running a grassroots campaign that reaches out to the voters. “One recurring theme I’ve been hearing from people on the streets is how do judges even get there? Like we don’t know anything about judges. Some people have been saying they don’t vote for judges because they don’t know anyone on the ballot,” said Waterman.
She said she garnered over 3,500 signatures during petitioning season to get on the ballot with the help of volunteers and community members. She said she’s striving to demystify the process and connect with constituents.
She’s not seeking endorsements, she said, but she did volunteer and was found qualified by the Kings County Democratic screening panel.
Waterman said she has not had an easy or direct path to becoming a lawyer, but credits her journey in public service to her parents.
She was born in East Lansing, Michigan to Nigerian immigrant parents. In her childhood, the family moved back home to Nigeria temporarily to care for her grandmother. Her parents were dedicated civil servants in their native country, she said.
When she was 16, her father was shot and killed during a carjacking and the perpetrators were never caught. Waterman returned to the states after her father’s death and pursued a degree in marketing. “College was tough, however, something I learned from my parents growing up and both of them were public servants was that I was always required to give back,” said Waterman.
While working as a high-powered marketing executive for Kraft Foods (Altria), she volunteered in a shelter for domestically abused women, and it was her experiences there that inspired her to attend law school. She made the trek to New York in 2005 and made law her second career.
Waterman ran a private law firm, specializing in business, immigration, estate planning and elder law, for about a decade. “I wasn’t a general practitioner, but I tried to do things related to seniors and the elderly, and I ultimately found myself in guardianship,” said Waterman.
In 2017, Waterman became a law clerk for a Kings County Supreme Court Justice and volunteered regularly as a Small Claims Court Arbitrator. “For me it was a continuation of my public service. While I was in private practice I also would be heavily involved in pro bono work and public service. I volunteered in almost every court imaginable,” laughed Waterman.
She said part of her job is to solve disputes early and be in the courtroom every day interacting with litigants. She believes her diverse law experiences demonstrate her dedication to her community and the kind of judge she’d be in Civil Court. She said observing a Supreme Court justice up close has taught her a lot about how to be an effective judge. She predicts there’d be plenty of tenant-landlord cases in the court because of the eventual end of the rent moratorium and is confident she’d discern when to work with people affected by the COVID crisis.
“It’s imperative that people are educated, they know what their rights are, and that they are able to advocate for themselves in court, or anywhere else for that matter, legally,” said Waterman. “I believe education is power.”
She is currently married to Robert Waterman, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church and a candidate for city council member in District 36’s packed race to replace Councilmember Robert Cornegy.
