Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn

The Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn was founded in 1966 by Hon. Frank J. Pino, the former Presiding Justice of the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court.  That first meeting in 1966 creating the Organization was held in Justice Pino’s Chambers.  Subsequent formation meetings were held in empty classrooms at St. John’s School of Law at 96 Schermerhorn Street.

With our Founder were other members of the Bench and Bar who saw the potential benefits flowing from the association of Italo-American lawyers and judges meeting and discussing their views and experiences as professionals.  These forward thinking individuals, some of whom had made significant advances within the legal and judicial arenas, joined together and set our Organization into motion.

Today we boast an organization of over 300 men and women.  Our general meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month beginning in September and ending in May.  At each meeting our members hear a lecture by an authority in a specific legal field and, hence, are able to quality for requisite Continuing Legal Education credits in a professional and congenial setting.

As an extremely active Bar Association some of the traditional highlights of our “Columbian Year” include Co-Sponsorship of The Red Mass every October at The Cathedral Basilica of St. James, an enthusiastic contingent marching in the Columbus Day Parade and our renowned Judges’ Night in December where we honor the members of our Judiciary who are Italo-American with the attendance of approximately 75 Judges of every ethnic and religious stripe.  Our “Year” ends with a trip to Atlantic City for a full day of lectures and dinner followed by an extremely well attended Installation Dinner Dance in June where our outgoing President hands the gavel to our incoming President.

We started out being a relatively small group of individuals bound together by common interests of heritage, ideals, law and family.

Now, more than fifty years later, the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn has become one of the most active, highly respected and influential Bar Associations in New York State.