Thursday, October 1, 2026
Nassau County District Court Judge Maxine Broderick, of Freeport, was recently installed as the 124th president of the Nassau County Bar Association, one of Long Island’s largest legal organizations, in a ceremony that also seated a new slate of officers and directors. Broderick is the first woman of color to lead the organization since its founding in 1899.
She was sworn in on June 2 by Judge Linda Mejias-Glover of the New York State Court of Claims. Broderick took office alongside President-elect Samuel Ferrara, Vice President Deanne Caputo, Treasurer Ira Slavit and Secretary Michael Antongiovanni.
Elizabeth Post, executive director of the Bar Association, told the Herald that she looked forward to working with Broderick to further strengthen the organization.
“She is committed to expanding opportunities for professional development, creating leadership pathways for members and ensuring the Bar Association remains fiscally strong while providing value to members,” Post wrote of Broderick in a statement to the Herald. “She will also seek opportunities to partner with legal organizations and community groups to serve the profession and the public.”
A Hempstead native, Broderick is the youngest of four children in a Caribbean-American family that emphasized education and public service. She graduated from Fordham University in 1995, later attended Brooklyn Law School at night while working full time, earned her law degree in 2003 and was admitted to practice in New York the following year. After working in several legal settings, she opened her own practice in the state in 2008.
Her judicial career began in 2017, when she was appointed Hempstead Village Court justice. Later that year, she won election to Nassau County District Court, representing the Town of Hempstead. Broderick has handled cases involving assault, criminal contempt, drunken driving and unlawful imprisonment.
She served for three years as a domestic violence misdemeanor judge, and in 2023 became the presiding judge of the county’s Human Trafficking Intervention Court.
She is also an adjunct professor at Hofstra Law School, where she teaches a course on leadership in the legal profession.
Broderick has said she wants to strengthen the bar association’s sense of community, expand professional development opportunities and create clearer leadership pathways for members. She also said she hoped to keep the organization on strong financial footing while continuing to deliver practical value to attorneys, judges, educators and law students across Nassau County.
“As I embark upon the coming year as NCBA President, I feel a tremendous sense of privilege, purpose and responsibility,” Broderick stated in a news release. “The NCBA is not merely a professional organization. It is a 127-year-old institution where legal practices thrive, attorneys forge professional bonds and lasting friendships, new attorneys and law students are mentored, and leaders are made. That is a tradition and legacy worth preserving and honoring.”
The bar association, founded in 1899, comprises some 4,000 private and public attorneys, judges, legal educators and law students who offer a variety of services including lawyer referral, mortgage foreclosure counseling, judicial screening and public education programs.
The association’s Nassau Academy of Law offers continuing legal education, while We Care, part of the Nassau Bar Foundation, supports children, older adults and other residents in need through charitable projects and donations. Broderick’s installation places a longtime Hempstead jurist and educator at the helm of an organization that has framed itself for over a century as both a professional home for the legal community and a public-facing service institution.
The transition comes at a time when bar associations across the country are working to recruit younger lawyers, respond to changing legal needs and maintain civic engagement. Broderick’s term in Nassau County is expected to focus on member development and continuity while highlighting the association’s longstanding role in connecting the legal profession with the larger community.
