Hon. Karen M.C. Cortes (Ret.) currently serves as a Support Magistrate at the Bronx County Family Court, presiding over child support proceedings on petitions for establishment, modification, and enforcement of child and spousal support orders pursuant to Family Court Act Article 4, while ensuring due process and equitable access to justice for largely self-represented litigants.
Judge Cortes was appointed to the bench by Mayor Bill de Blasio as a New York City Family Court Judge, serving from January 2019 to January 2026. She was the first Filipino American Judge appointed to the New York City Family Court and the first Filipino American Judge in New York State Family Court history — a historic milestone for the Asian American Pacific Islander community. During her tenure, she presided over child abuse and neglect, custody, visitation, guardianship, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and family offense proceedings in Bronx County Family Court.
Before ascending to the bench, Judge Cortes served the New York State Unified Court System for over a decade in progressively responsible roles. She served as a Court Attorney Referee for four years, hearing and determining custody, visitation, family offense, and SIJS proceedings, and as a Senior Court Attorney for six years in New York City Family Court, conducting compliance and settlement conferences across multiple specialty courts. She also served for five years as a Staff Attorney and Team Leader in the Family Court Legal Services Division at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), where she prosecuted child abuse and neglect proceedings in New York County and Bronx County Family Courts, supervised and trained staff attorneys, and was a recipient of the 2005 ACS Division of Family Court Legal Services Permanency Advocate Award.
Judge Cortes earned her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School, where she was a recipient of the Judge Doris A. Thompson and Judge Edward Thompson Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy and was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society, where she was a recipient of the Certificate of Meritorious Service. Judge Cortes earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from New York University, where she was recognized on The National Dean’s List and the Dean’s Honor List, and received the New York University Presidential Service and Leadership Award.
Judge Cortes currently serves as the Presiding Member of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Judicial Section — the first Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) to hold this position in the Section’s 100-year history. She also serves as a member of the Statewide Permanent Commission on Justice for Families of the Unified Court System of the State of New York, a Board Member of the Asian American Judges’ Association of New York State (AAJANY), a member of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Mentor Program, a member of the Appellate Division Second Judicial Department Mental Health Professionals Certification Committee, and a member of the Bronx County Family Court Equal Justice Committee.
Judge Cortes is a member of the New York City Family Court Judges Association, the New York State Family Court Judges Association, the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the Bronx County Family Court Bar Association, the New York State Women’s Bar Association (Bronx Chapter), and the Filipino Lawyers American Association (FALA) of New York.
She has been honored by the Bronx County Family Court Bar Association and the Asian American Bar Association of New York.
In prior leadership roles, Judge Cortes served as Vice President of the New York City Family Court Judges Association, First Department Representative of the New York State Family Court Judges Association, Committee Co-Chair for the Bronx County Family Court Early Engagement Group, Committee Co-Chair for the Bronx County Family Court Gender Bias and Gender Fairness Committee, and as an Advisory Board Member of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission Advisory Group for the Twelfth Judicial District. She also served on the Montefiore Medical Center Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Out of Home Placement Workgroup, the New York City Family Court Custody, Visitation, and Family Offense Operations Advisory Committee to the Administrative Judge, the Bronx County Family Court Strategic Plan Implementation Team for Custody, Visitation, and Family Offense, the New York City Bar Association Family Court and Family Law Committee, and the Kings County Family Court Disproportionate Minority Representation Committee.
Judge Cortes has served as Co-Chair and Panelist for the Practising Law Institute (PLI) Child Custody and Guardianship for New York Practitioners Program (2017–2019), panelist at the New York City Bar on “How Did We Get from Allison D. to Tri-Custody?” (2018), and has trained newly appointed Family Court Judges, Court Attorney Referees, and Court Attorneys on child protective, custody, visitation, and family offense proceedings, and case conferencing best practices.
Hon. Karen M.C. Cortes (Ret.) is a speaker for The Modern Advocate: Mastering Courtroom Skills in a Changing Legal Landscape program.