Hon. Helen E. Freedman

Justice Helen E. Freedman was appointed to the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court in 2008, having served in the Supreme Court since 1984. She was elected to the Civil Court in November 1978, and served on the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court from 1995-99. Prior to the Appellate Division Appointment, she was in the Commercial Division of the New York County Supreme Court for eight years. She has also been Presiding Judge of the Litigation Coordinating Panel for multi-district litigation in New York State since 2003, and she managed a number of mass tort litigations including the entire downstate asbestos litigation and homeless family litigation.

Justice Freedman is a member of the New York State and Federal Judicial Council and currently serves on the Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Association of Justices of the  Supreme Court of the State ofNew York.

Justice Freedman was an adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School and has lectured at Judges' Seminars, CLE Programs, and law schools on trial and appellate practice, mass
torts, the use of ADR in public disputes, commercial practice and medical-legal issues. She is the author of New York Objections, a book on trial practice and the making of objections; of a chapter in Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts; of articles on mass torts, medical malpractice, ADR, and small claims; and of a number of book reviews. She is a graduate of Smith College and New York University School of Law.