KYJKnow Your Judge v0.6.2by SwansLake
Judge directoryEllen Gesmer

Active Trial judge

Ellen Gesmer

Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Term

New York · New York County

Identity verifiedOfficial profile locatedOfficial sources collectedPresentation intelligence
01

Overview

Identity and service

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

Judicial role
Justice
Service status
Active
Court level
Trial
Jurisdiction
State
02

Background

Biography and career

Born
September 6, 1950 in Boston, MA
Gender
Female
Race
White
Political affiliation
Democratic (via appointer)

Education

  • Harvard Universitysumma cum laude, 1971
  • Yale UniversityJD, 1976

Professional career

  • Justice, Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Term, (Certificated), 2021 to 2023
  • Current court assignment: Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Term
  • Staff Attorney, Supervising Attorney, Acting Director of Litigation, Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services Corporation, Brooklyn, New York, NY, 1977-1983
  • Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, MI, 1983-1984
  • Practitioner, Teitelbaum & Hiller, P.C., 1984-1987
  • Practitioner, Gulielmetti & Gesmer, P.C., New York, NY, 1987-2003

Judicial service

  • Law Clerk, District Court, D. Massachusetts, 1976-1977
  • Judge, Civil Court of the City of New York, New York, NY, 2004-2011
  • Judge, The Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York, New York, NY, 2006-2006
  • Acting Justice, New York Supreme Court, Bronx County, New York, NY, 2006-2009
  • Acting Justice, New York Supreme Court, New York County, New York, NY, 2009-2011
  • Justice, New York Supreme Court, NY, 2009-2016
  • Justice, New York Supreme Court, New York County, NY, 2011-2020
  • Justice, New York Supreme Court, New York County, New York, NY, 2012-2025
  • Associate Justice, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, NY, 2016-2020
  • Justice, New York Supreme Court, New York County, New York, NY, 2021-2023
  • Justice, New York Supreme Court, NY, 2021-present

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project public biographical data. Demographic and political labels are incomplete, source-attributed, and are not used to infer judicial behavior. “Via appointer” describes CourtListener’s attribution method, not verified personal party membership.

03

Before you appear

Preparation checklist

  1. 01

    Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.

  2. 02

    Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.

  3. 03

    Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

Scope note

Statewide and courtwide guidance is labeled by scope and is not evidence of a personal preference. Division, judge-specific, or case-specific orders may control.

04

Presentation rules

What the public sources say

StatewideExplicit
Court Proceeding

Leave required

New York statewide rules require permission before photographing, filming, videotaping, audiotaping, broadcasting, or telecasting in court facilities, including courtrooms.

Page
Official rule page
Section
Part 29.1(a); party litigation recording requests and appellate/court-specific permissions are separately addressed
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
Taking photographs, films or videotapes, or audiotaping, broadcasting or telecasting, in a courthouse including any courtroom, office or hallway thereof, at any time or on any occasion, whether or not the court is in session, is forbidden, unless permission of the Chief Administrator of the Courts or a designee of the Chief Administrator is first obtained

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

StatewideExplicit
Hearing Or Trial

Allowed with notice

The official Guide to New York Evidence identifies court control over presentation of evidence as a statewide evidence topic; counsel should expect the assigned judge to control the mode and order of proof.

Page
Official evidence guide page
Section
Article 1, Court's Role table of contents; consult the current rule document and case-specific orders before relying on demonstratives
Last checked
July 26, 2026
Verification
Automated checks passed
Read supporting source excerpt
1.07. COURT CONTROL OVER PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE

The requirement is stated in an official statewide source and is attached as applicable guidance, not as a personal preference.

05

Courtroom technology

Published equipment guidance

No technology specification indexed

Technology availability is separate from procedural permission and evidentiary admissibility.

06

Published opinion footprint

Decisions and citations

Opinion data is not yet indexed for this profile

This does not mean the judge has no published opinions or no caseload. KYJ will only show opinion counts after transparent, source-linked CourtListener matching is available.

07

Sources

Public documents behind this profile

08

Change history

How this profile entered KYJ

Current profile indexed

Identity imported from New York State Unified Court System. 2 presentation-related claims migrated with source provenance.