Rolando T. Acosta

Justice Acosta served as President of the Latino Judges Association and was awarded the Association’s John Carro Award for Judicial Excellence “in recognition of his leadership and scholarly work as a New York State jurist and his work as a mentor and teacher with the Latino Community.” He was named Judge of the Year by the National Hispanic Bar Association in 2004 and received the Jewish Lawyers Guild’s Golda Meir Memorial Award in 2013.

Prior to his judicial service, Acosta held various posts with the Legal Aid Society, including Attorney-in-Charge of the largest civil trial office and Director of Government and Community Affairs. He also served as First Deputy Commissioner and as Deputy Commissioner for Law Enforcement at the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

• Appellate Representations
  • Represent high-net worth client in appeal of decision on personal guaranty to First Department and in connection with pre-judgment and post-judgment discovery and motion practice before Supreme Court, New York County, including defending a deposition.
  • Represent Bronx safety-net hospital in appeal to the Court of Appeals of a decision permitting damages for emotional harm in connection with lack of informed consent claim.
  • Represented spouse in successful appeal at the Appellate Division, First Department of the trial court’s award of $29.6 million as an advance on equitable distribution.
  • Represented investors in reargument of a decision at the Appellate Division, First Department which reinstated claims of tortious interference with contract and unjust enrichment.
  • Advised trial counsel in an appeal at the Appellate Division, First Department from a $1.6 billion Judgment for damages for breach of contract, fraud, and veil-piercing claims.
  • Represent spouse in Supreme Court, Rockland County seeking a change of venue to New York County, and at the Appellate Division, Second Department in appeal from a Rockland County Justice’s order denying recusal.
  • Represent publishing company in an application to the Appellate Division, First Department for the publication of legal notices.
  • Advised counsel for Respondent in an appeal at the Appellate Division, First Department from trial court’s order sustaining breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and General Business Law §349 claims.
  • Advised trial counsel in an appeal at the Appellate Division, First Department from orders directing hearings in a matrimonial action.
  • Represent major university in an appeal at the Appellate Division, First Department from an order finding that appellants had no vested property rights in final federal judgments under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
• Pro Bono Representations
  • Represented domestic violence survivor in connection with application for re-sentencing before Supreme Court, Bronx County under the Domestic Violence Justice Survivors Act, resulting in a sentence of time served.
  • Represent the New York State Bar Association as amicus curiae at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in support of an appeal from a decision creating a qualified public right of access to New York attorney grievance committee dispositions.

• Received the New York State Bar Association Judicial Section’s Distinguished Jurist Award
• Honors & Awards
  • Recipient, the Latino Judges Association’s John Carro Award for Judicial Excellence
  • Recipient, Jewish Lawyers Guild’s Golda Meir Memorial Award
  • Named Judge of the Year by the National Hispanic Bar Association
• Memberships & Associations
  • Member, Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts
  • Member and former Vice President (2011-2012), the New York City Bar Association
  • Member, the New York City Bar Association’s Task Force on Free Expression in the Digital Age
  • President, Latino Judges Association
  • Treasurer and Chair of the Policy Committee (1990-1997), the Hispanic Federation
  • Founding Board Member, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
• Publications
  • “An Opportunity for a Second Chance: The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act in Practice,” New York Law Journal, March 31, 2025.
  • “Strengthening the Delivery of Justice at the Appellate Division,” New York Law Journal, January 3, 2024.
  • “Certified Questions from the Appellate Division as a Tool for Bettering the Rule of Law,” New York Law Journal, September 15, 2023.
  • “A House Again Divided: Our Democracy and Courts in Peril,” New York Law Journal, May 15, 2023.
• Speaking Engagements
  • “Judicial Independence: The Israeli Experience,” Historical Society of the New York Courts, March 4, 2024. Speaker.
  • “Views from the Other Side of the Bench,” Pillsbury, February 20, 2024.
  • “Upholding the Rule of Law,” National Employment Lawyers Association/New York, November 2, 2023. Speaker.
  • “Demystifying the Transition from Appellate Attorney to Trial judge: Encouraging Judicial Service By the Appellate Bar,” New York County Lawyers Association, October 30, 2023. Moderator.