MPorter@tourolaw.edu

Civil Practice Externship

Mary Porter is currently sitting as Judge in Family Court. Prior to her appointment, she served as Court Attorney Referee assigned to the District Administrative Judge’s Office. In that role, she served as the designated acting coordinator for the Suffolk County Courts Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs, Special Counsel for Town and Village Courts, Public Information Officer and chairs several court committees including Women in the Courts and the Communications Subcommittee for Access to Justice. 

 

 

Whether at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office where she initially tried cases after law school or at the Mayor's Office where she developed crime reduction policy or as an Assistant Dean at New York University’s Wagner School, Mary Porter stands for public service and access to justice.

 

 

Immediately after law school, Ms. Porter was a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She waded into flood of petty criminal and crime drowning New York City to help it become the "safest large city in America.” She went on to develop crime reduction policy for the New York City Mayor's Office as part of the Criminal Justice Coordinator’s Office. A few of her projects included the development of strategies to reduce sex trafficking and underage prostitution, reductions in gun violence, and creation of the hate crimes hotline. In addition, she oversaw the construction of criminal justice facilities including the Kings Supreme and Family Court Building in Brooklyn and the New York City Chief Medical Examiner DNA testing facility. Following, her time at the Mayor’s Office, she went on to serve as Acting General Counsel for the Medical Examiner of New York City. 

 

 

She left government service briefly to become Assistant Dean at New York University Wagner School of Public Service and an Adjunct Professor who thought career development and an undoing racism workshop.

 

 

She returned to government in in 2009. First as an Assistant Town Attorney with the Town of Brookhaven then as an Assistant County Attorney for Suffolk County. While in the County Attorney’s Office, she developed and implemented anti-discrimination policy for Suffolk County became immersed in public safety initiatives including sex offender management and recidivism reduction. She currently served on the Long Island Regional Youth Justice Council and the Suffolk County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee.  She also briefly served as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission.

 

 

 Ms. Porter joined the Unified Court System in 2016 as the principle law clerk for the District Administrative Judge. In that capacity, she has handled foreclosures, public information and assisted the courts in the implementation of the new bail reform law, and judicial ethics.

 

Mary Porter was born in Washington, D.C and received her Juris Doctor from Temple University and her Bachelor of Science from Howard University.  She lives with her son in Long Island, New York.