Deepa Ambekar named to NYC Civil Court

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Indian American Deepa Ambekar, a New York criminal defense lawyer and former City Council legislative attorney has been designated as interim Civil Court judge by Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to a press release.

Ambekar’s appointment hasn’t been officially announced however, she will become a trial judge as of May 1.

The 41-year-old Brooklyn resident has been on maternity leave since late last year.

Ambekar wasn’t thinking of becoming a judge until a few years ago when a senior attorney in her law firm applied for a judgeship.

Ambekar had worked as a senior legislative counsel at the New York City Council where she drafted criminal justice legislation and attended Council hearings while working on criminal justice policy for then-City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, she has specified that the ideas for the laws will come from Council members.

Ambekar was born in Naperville, Illinois and raised in Randolph, New Jersey.

She is an economics graduate of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and has worked for AmeriCorps as well as in an inner-city school in Atlanta, Georgia.

She ended up working at Accenture to save money for law school at Rutgers University.

Ambekar loves salsa dancing and storytelling; she is married to Steven Chavez who is a criminal defense attorney in New York.

Ambekar will become the second Indian-American female judge in New York City after Raja Rajeswari.