Join us for a special virtual Chai & Chat as we welcome Justice Karen Gopee, SAICBA-Q Advisory Board Member and former President, for an engaging, candid, and inspiring conversation! Grab your favorite cup of chai and get to know the woman behind the robe. Hear about her journey, exchange stories, and share a few laughs. No robes, no formalities, no agenda—just chai, conversation, and connection!
Hon. Karen Gopee
Justice, Queens County Supreme Court - Criminal
Justice Karen Gopee was the first Indo-Caribbean Jurist in New York State, elected to the Supreme Court in 2021 and appointed to the New York State Criminal Court in 2015.
Prior to the bench, she served as a Prosecutor in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, specializing in domestic violence and child abuse cases. She served as the Principal Court Attorney at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional treatment court where she helped develop and expand diversion, educational, housing, treatment and community programs.
Justice Gopee was the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice Committee, and President, former Executive Vice President, and founding member of South Asian Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens. She currently serves as an officer of the Queens County Supreme Court Judges’ Association, the Treasurer of the Asian American Judges Association of New York and an officer and co-chair of the CLE Committee for the Caribbean American Lawyers’ Association.
Justice Gopee was born in Trinidad, graduated with honors from the State University of New York at Binghamton and St. John’s University School of Law.
Shivangi Kumar-Joshi
Associate Court Attorney at UCS
Shivangi earned her law degree from the Fordham University School of Law. As her class representative, she was a liaison between her classmates and the school administration. In Fordham, she expanded her commitment to public service and developed her settlement and negotiation skills. Through the Mediation Clinic, she mediated cases in Small Claims Court, Queens County, where she helped litigants resolve their disputes in various areas of law. In 2016, Shivangi was a recipient of Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award at Fordham. Shivangi started her legal career as an Associate Attorney at a New York law firm where she represented corporate clients in litigation involving tort, corporate, and employment law in NY federal and state courts. In 2020, Shivangi accepted a three-year Assistant Law Clerk position with a Judge in New York State Supreme Court, Queens County.
Shivangi currently works as an Associate Court Attorney at the Law Department, New York State Supreme Court, Queens County. As a member of the Law Department, she conducts legal research and analysis on complex legal issues, and drafts decisions/opinions/orders/memoranda of law for Judges. Shivangi currently serves as a board member for the South Asian Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens.