Tehilah Berman is running for Civil Court in the Brooklyn community she grew up in, the neighborhood in which she is raising her four sons, and where her parents still live in the house they raised her and her siblings.
“I’m proud to be from Brooklyn, and thrilled my husband and I are raising our family so close to Mom and Dad,” Berman shared in a recent visit to The Jewish Press. “If there is any doubt about my being able to preside over a crowded and busy courtroom, come by my house in the morning while we’re getting the boys ready.”
Famed Attorney and Legal Scholar Alan Dershowitz has endorsed Berman for Civil Court, calling her “an excellent lawyer who has the right experience to be a fine judge.” Berman worked with Dershowitz as a pro bono attorney conducting legal research and providing advisory memoranda for a criminal appeal in the case of a defendant convicted of murder and conspiracy.
The Democratic Primary election for this office is on Tuesday, June 25.
Berman attended Shulamith elementary school, then Yeshiva University High School for Girls (“Central Manhattan”) before starting NYU at 16 years old. She is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, and has been a member of the New York Bar since 1994.
“I have a passion for fairness,” said Berman. “Whether a high profile commercial case with expensive lawyers on both sides, individuals representing themselves in the Small Claims Part, the myriad tragedies in Criminal Court, the stresses of landlord/tenant relationships, or Family Court – everyone, all the time, will find a level field in my courtroom.”
Experience matters. What a lawyer has done – their work – tells you something about what sort of judge they’d be. In this regard, Berman’s experiences present her as thoughtful and deliberate. She was a pension, labor, and employment lawyer at prestigious corporate firms before starting her family.
Berman’s passion for justice caused her to turn her attention towards criminal appeals. Working with Professor Alan Dershowitz, Esq. she conducted legal research and provided advisory memoranda for a criminal appeal in the case of a female defendant convicted of murder and conspiracy. She then single-handedly drafted an extensive motion to vacate the conviction and an appeal for an indigent man who was convicted and received a life sentence as a co-conspirator to the female defendant.
Berman currently serves as the Principal Law Clerk to the Honorable Katherine A. Levine, Justice of the Supreme Court of Kings County, after having served as the Principal Court Attorney to her in the Civil Court of Kings County
“Judicial campaigns are quirky things,” Berman concluded. “You cannot talk about how you would rule on issues, you cannot talk about politics, which makes sense. What you can put in front of the voters are your qualifications, your accomplishments, your vision for service, and your temperament – the things that matter about a person. Your heart and soul.”