The Honorable William F. Mastro is an Associate Justice in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 2nd Department (Brooklyn) since 2002. He is running for the New York Supreme Court, 2nd Judicial District, on the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative party lines. Mastro was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy from 1972 until he was honorably discharged in 1974. Mastro received his J.D. from New York Law School in 1977. In 1979, Mastro started his legal career in the private practice before being hired as a Staff Attorney for Mental Hygiene Legal Service, a position he served in until 1981. Mental Health Legal Service is a New York State agency responsible for representing, advocating and litigating on behalf of individuals receiving services for a mental disability.
In 1981, Mastro served as a law clerk to a Civil Court Judge, and then as Principal Law Clerk to a Richmond County Supreme Court Justice from 1982 until 1992. He then went on to become a Justice of the New York Supreme Court (Kings County) from 1993 until 1995. From 1996 until 2002, Mastro was a New York Supreme Court Judge for Richmond County. In 2011, he was the Acting Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department. As the Acting Presiding Judge, Mastro helped set court policy with the Chief Justice of the State and was also responsible for Second Department clerk appointments, judicial appointments, and vacancies, as well as budgetary matters.
Judge Mastro was vouched in to the New York State Court of Appeals in 2013. He is the Chair of the Ethics Commission for the Unified Court System. Maestro has also served on the Second District Committee on Litigation Cost and Delay. He was also a member of the Richmond County Jury Board. Mastro is also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts (New York) as well as the United States Supreme Court.
In 2014, Judge Mastro was presented with the Rapallo Award by the Columbian Lawyer’s Association. As reported in the Brooklyn Eagle at the time, Judge Mastro credited his grandmother’s influence for leading him into a legal career: “She taught me how to treat people with compassion and she truly was the one that influenced me the most.” The award celebrated Judge Mastro’s “commitment to public service and the legal profession,” according to Stephen J. Savva, president of the Columbian Lawyer’s Association. Judge Mastro said that his grandmother lived to see him be sworn in as an attorney and would be very proud of him.