Janice Purvis is a committed public servant who deeply understands the needs of the Brooklyn community
JANICE PURVIS
DEMOCRAT FOR CIVIL COURT JUDGE
ELECT
Vote. Democratic Primary, Tues. June 24
Early Voting June 14-22
INTEGRITY
FAIRNESS
DEDICATION
JANICE PURVIS
DEMOCRAT FOR CIVIL COURT JUDGE
ELECT
Vote. Democratic Primary, Tues. June 24
Early Voting June 14 - 22
Janice Purvis is a highly respected attorney with two decades of experience in New York City Courts. She is a go-to expert regarding legal issues in the preliminary stages of civil litigation in Kings County Supreme Court. In that capacity, Janice resolves discovery disputes among litigants and drafts and/or reviews proposed orders in each of the four distinct, high-volume discovery Parts. In addition, Janice has spent over ten years in the Help Center providing services to underserved people in the community, where she explains Court procedures, provides legal forms and referrals for pro-bono legal resources, and assists self-represented litigants in filling out legal forms at the Center’s computer stations. As a testament to her expertise, she also trains junior attorneys in the discovery Parts and in the Help Center.
In her additional capacity as a Special Referee for Uncontested Matrimonial Matters, Janice reviews submissions for uncontested divorce for accuracy and completeness, determines child support, custody, and visitation, and signs Judgments of Divorce and Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. During Election seasons, Janice also issues rulings in the Election Part resolving line-by-line challenges to candidate petitions under the Election Law.
Janice is the daughter of a World War II veteran who subsequently dedicated his life to public service working for the U.S. Department of Defense. Her mother was second-generation Croatian immigrant who practiced as a registered nurse before devoting her life to raising her children. Janice was raised in Bel Air, Maryland, the youngest of six children. From an early age her parents instilled in her the importance of hard work, achieving high standards in education, and public service. This unwavering foundation propelled Janice to excel in her academic and professional pursuits.
After graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, and a minor in classical languages at the University of Minnesota, Janice earned her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in 2002. While at New York Law School, she was a member of the Moot Court Association and co-drafted the fact pattern for the 2001 Charles W. Froessel Moot Court Competition. In addition, Janice worked as a judicial intern to the late Honorable Harold Baer, Jr., of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, where she toured Rikers Island with the Judge and researched the confinement conditions for pretrial detainees. She also worked as a research assistant for Nadine Strossen, the President of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Janice began her legal career as an Assistant Law Clerk for the Honorable Justice Rosalyn Richter in New York County Supreme Court, Civil Term before Justice Richter was appointed Associate Justice of Supreme Court, First Judicial Department. Thereafter, Janice practiced as a litigation associate at a private law firm which specialized in state and federal corporate securities actions and commercial litigation. Janice re-joined the Court System, initially as a Court Attorney and in successive legal titles within the Law Department at Kings County Supreme Court, culminating in her current position as Court Attorney Referee. Throughout her 19 years in the Law Department, Janice has worked on a variety of civil matters in such areas as personal injury (auto, premises liability, general negligence), medical and legal malpractice, labor law, family law, property, and breach of contract cases. From August 2010 to May 2012, she concurrently served as an Adjunct Law Professor at New York Law School where she taught legal reasoning, legal writing, and written and oral advocacy to first-year law students.
Janice currently serves as Secretary for the Court Attorneys Association of New York City, a union which represents approximately 280 attorneys. She is a member of the Brooklyn Bar Association, Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn, Small Claims Arbitrators Association, and Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.
Janice, her five year-old daughter, and their rescue cats reside in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is a member of the Crown Heights North Association, and previously served on the Board of Friends of Brower Park, Inc., a non-for-profit conservancy that provides year-around recreational and education events in Brower Park. Janice has also served as a Vice President of The Block at Prospect Place Association, a neighborhood block association for Crown Heights residents of Prospect Place between Kingston and Albany Avenues. Lastly, since November 2011, she has served as a Board member of Bushwick Street Cats, Inc., a non-for-profit trap/neuter/release cat- rescue and adoption organization which assists in reducing and managing the outdoor cat population.
