Hon. L. Priscilla Hall (Ret.) joined JAMS after more than thirty years of service to the State of New York as a distinguished jurist. She was an Associate Justice of the State of New York Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, for nine years. Prior to that time, she served as the Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division of the Kings County Supreme Court.

Twice elected as a justice to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Judge Hall presided over civil and criminal matters and volunteered to serve in Family Court. Over the course of three decades on the bench, she handled thousands of cases involving banking, business & commercial, civil rights, class action and mass tort, construction, education, employment, family law, governmental/public agency, insurance, personal injury & torts, assaults, real property, and securities matters.

Her experience prior to serving on the bench spanned an array of practice areas in the private and public spheres. She served as a corporate attorney for the General Electric company, as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County, as Inspector General of the New York City Department of Employment, as Assistant Attorney General of the New York State Department of Law, and as Inspector General of the New York City Human Resources Administration. 

While Judge Hall’s career experiences make her adept at resolving all kinds of business and commercial disputes, she especially enjoys handling individual and multi-party claims of discrimination, executive compensation, noncompete and non-solicitation agreement claims, wage and hour and Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) individual, class and collective actions, whistleblower claims, and wrongful termination matters, among others.

Judge Hall is a seasoned jurist and legal practitioner who is widely known for her combination of compassion and practicality in the resolution of disputes and her belief that all who appear before her should be treated with dignity and respect. She enjoys the challenge of getting to the heart of complex – and often contentious – disputes of every stripe in a manner that allows all parties to participate and be heard.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Judge Hall was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law (Summers 2001–2004). 
• Throughout her career, Judge Hall has been a leader in civic and community organizations and associations. She is frequently invited to speak about the issues of justice and inclusion and has served as President of the New York State Association of Women Justices, Vice-President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, and President of the Association of Black Women Attorneys. 
• She also serves as a member of the New York State Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Judicial Department, the New York State Governor’s Clemency Advisory Panel and the New York City Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Judiciary.
• Her diverse legal career has spanned the fields of law, public service, and community service as a means of maintaining and furthering the public’s confidence in our judicial system, as well as in non-traditional modes of dispute resolution. 

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Arbitration: breach of contract matter involving monies allegedly due under loan agreement between parties 
• Arbitration: breach of contract dispute against solar energy company involving allegations that roof leaks from installation of solar panels caused damage
• Arbitration: breach of contract claim relating to alleged breach of attorney-client engagement agreement
• Arbitration: consumer credit dispute 
• Neutral Analysis: dispute involving assorted claims between sports media and mobile app companies
• Distressed Holdings, LLC v. Ehrler: involving violations of the Exempt Income Protection Act and the judgment debtor’s due process rights for failure to timely receive a copy of restraining and exemption notices and claim forms
• Class Action & Mass Tort
• Matter of Frankel v. Citicorp Ins. Servs, Inc.: putative class action involving consumers’ automatic payment of a credit card fee for a “voluntary flight insurance program” under an agreement whose arbitration clause the defendant could and did unilaterally change fourteen years later
• Andryeyeva v. New York Health Care, Inc.: affirming putative class action of attendants’ claims against home health care company to recover damages for wage violations under the New York Labor Law and New York CPLR Article 9
• Employment Law
Discrimination

• Arbitration: relating to allegations of age discrimination against multinational technology company
• Mediation: involving alleged claims of disparate treatment due to race and gender, failure to promote, hostile working environment, whistleblower protection and failure to pay equally against travel retailer
• Mediation: involving hostile work environment, race discrimination, retaliation, and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations against global banking corporation 
• Mediation: involving city and state law claims related to hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation, and failure to promote by city transportation agency 
• Mediation: involving senior manager’s claim that multinational technology company allegedly discriminated against her on the basis of her caste identity in violation of Title VII, the New York State Human Rights Law and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and in retaliation for cross-filing claims with city and state regulators 
Confidentiality & Non-Compete Agreements

• Arbitration: action to recover damages and to obtain permanent injunctive relief involving alleged misappropriation of company’s confidential information and trade secrets and alleged breach of obligations under noncompete agreement
Executive & Employee Compensation

• Arbitration: relating to employee benefits and executive compensation claims alleged against global real estate development company
• Arbitration: involving CPA’s alleged compensation claims against accounting firm after CPA’s resignation from successor firm 
Retaliation

• Arbitration: involving allegations of retaliation by high-level executive of global cryptocurrency platform 
Wage & Hour/Fair Labor Standards Act/New York Labor Law

• Arbitration: dispute involving New York Labor Law and Fair Labor Standards Act claims for alleged failure to pay overtime, unlawful deductions, and unjust enrichment
• Mediation: involving alleged failure of non-profit antipoverty agency to pay claimants’ minimum wage, overtime, and other compensation under the New York Labor Law
• Minogue v. Good Samaritan Hosp.: addressing issue of whether the institution of a cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 741 constitutes a waiver of other causes of action relating to alleged retaliatory discharge
• Haines v. Dick’s Concrete Co., Inc.: involving action by injured truck driver to  recover damages for violations of Labor Law §§240(1), 241(6), and 200, and  common-law negligence for injuries allegedly sustained due to a fall
• Estate Probate Trusts
• Matter of Edward: holding that a person who unlawfully kills another should not be permitted to inherit the victim’s assets indirectly through the estate of the victim’s daughter
• Family Law
• Matter of Naquan L.G. and Carolyn C.: involving a mother’s motion to vacate judicial surrenders of her parental rights for children who had been in kinship foster care
• Insurance
• State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Fitzgerald: involving issue whether a police vehicle qualifies as a “motor vehicle” as used in a certain supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist endorsement
• Also presided, while on the bench, over matters involving complex coverage claims, claims under directors and officers (D&O) and other types of policies  including errors and omissions (E&O), commercial general liability (CGL), employment practices liability (EPL), property, health, life, and excess coverage
• Personal Injury
• Arbitration: involving claim of injury allegedly incurred as a result of riding respondent’s mopeds
• Arbitration: involving assault and battery allegations against massage franchise company
• Arbitration: involving alleged negligence, premises liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual battery and California Ralph Act prohibitions against hate or threatened hate violence 
• Mussara v. Mega Funworks, Inc.: involving issue of whether plaintiff assumed the risk of his injuries by voluntarily riding down a waterslide
• State of NY v. Claude McC: addressing issue of whether respondent’s conviction of a non-sex offense committed while on post-release supervision for an underlying sex offense was a related offense as defined by New York’s Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act
• Real Estate & Real Property
• Arbitration: involving claim that foreign investment holding company allegedly failed to pay claimant obligations pursuant to guaranty of a joint venture agreement for a commercial office tower 
• Mediation: dispute concerning action to quiet title to property located in New York City
• Matter of Jourdain v. NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal: involving issue whether a family member who had been residing in an apartment with the tenant had succession rights when the tenant moved out
• Matter of Seidel v. Board of Assessors, County of Nassau: addressing issue whether Nassau County could consider improvements made to real property after the taxable status date in assessing property values
• Additional Representative Matters
• Hyatt v. Cal. Franchise Tax Bd: involving issue whether New York courts may exercise judicial review over administratively issued subpoenas served in New York in connection with a California tax proceeding pursuant to New York CPLR 3119
• People v. Warren Davis: involving issue whether Supreme Court erred when it denied defendant’s request to impeach the verdict on the ground that the jury failed to apply the trial court’s instructions on the law and instead relied on the “expertise” of a juror who was an attorney

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Board Member at Large, National Bar Association
• Secretary and Board Member, Common Justice
• Board Member, Friends of Marcy Houses
• Member, Association of Black Women Attorneys
• Member, Metropolitan Black Bar Association
• Member, Task Force on Racial Injustice and Police Reform, New York State Bar Association
• Member, Brooklyn Bar Association
• Member, New York City Bar Association
• Vice Chair, Deacon Ministry of Brooklyn Community Church

Selected Awards and Honors

• Justice William C. Thompson, Sr. Award, Appellate Division Second Judicial Department, Kings County Black History Month, 2019
• Myles A. Paige Award, Judicial Friends Inc., 2018
• Commitment to Diversity Award, Amistad Bar Association, 2018
• Honorable L. Priscilla Hall Leadership Academy, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, 2018
• Induction into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame, 2018
• William H. Hastie Award, Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, 2018
• Patricia L. Irvin Outstanding Service Award, Association of Black Women Attorneys, 2017
• Sister of the Year Award, Brooklyn Community Church, Rev. Dr. Fred Lucas, Senior Pastor, 2016
• Legal Excellence Award, Queens County Bar Association, 2015
• Legal Leadership Award, Brooklyn NAACP, 2015
• Excellence and Commitment Stalwart Service to the Bar Award, Region II of the National Bar Association, 2014
• Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, Third Annual Shirley Chisolm Women’s Empowerment Conference, awarded by U.S. Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, 2014
• Constance Baker Motley Judicial Excellence Award, Westchester Black Bar Association, 2012
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Award, Brooklyn Community Church, 2012

Special Appointments

• Served, via appointment by Federal Monitor Peter L. Zimroth, to oversee compliance by the New York Police Department (NYPD) with Stop, Question and Frisk laws, specifically overseeing a pilot program for officers to wear body cameras, 2021
• New York State Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Judicial Department
• New York State Governor’s Clemency Advisory Panel
• New York City Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Judiciary

Background and Education

• Associate Justice, State of New York Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, 2009–2018
• Administrative Judge, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County Criminal Term, 2008–2009
• Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Judicial District, 1993–2018
• Family Court, 2006
• Judge, New York State Court of Claims, 1990–1994
• Acting Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County, 1990
• Judge, Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1986–1990
• Inspector General, New York City Human Resources Administration, 1982–1986
• Assistant Attorney General, New York State Department of Law, 1982
• Inspector General, New York City Department of Employment, 1979–1982
• Assistant District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney, New York County Criminal Court Assistant, 1974–1979
• Adjunct Professor, Fordham University School of Law, Summers 2001–2004
• Corporate Attorney, General Electric, 1973–1974
• Bar Admissions
• United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2005
• Supreme Court of the United States, 1978
• United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 1976
• New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, 1974
• J.D., Columbia University School of Law, 1973
• M.S., with Honors, Columbia University School of Journalism, 1969
• B.A., magna cum laude, Howard University, 1968   
• Phi Beta Kappa Society