2026 GALA HONOREE

Justice Karen Gopee made history twice by her election to the New York State Supreme Court in

2021 and her appointment to the New York State Criminal Court in 2015, as the first Indo-Caribbean jurist in New York State. Currently, she presides over hearings and trials in the Supreme Court in Queens County.  

Prior to the election, she served as the presiding Criminal Court Judge over the Youth Part,

Domestic Violence Part and Specialty Felony Waiver Part. While in Criminal Court, Justice Gopee

handled Misdemeanor and Felony matters, presided over pretrial hearings, bench and jury trials and published a dozen decisions. She worked with the Queens District Attorney’s office to implement the Queens Treatment Intervention Program to offer screening and treatment to low level offenders suffering from opioid addiction. Since the 2018 launch there has been hundreds of successful participants.

Before becoming a jurist, she served as the Principal Court Attorney at the Red Hook Community

Justice Center -a multijurisdictional Community Court acclaimed for innovative problem-solving

techniques. There, she collaborated to implement programs that diverted youth from criminal and/or family court and helped individuals access mental health and substance abuse programs in lieu of incarceration. She also worked closely with city agencies and residents to facilitate repairs, address rent arrears, and prevent evictions in New York City owned buildings. She began her legal career at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. As a Prosecutor, for eight years, she prosecuted Misdemeanor and Felony matters, from arrest to trial, supervised junior assistants and specialized in cases involving domestic violence and child abuse, speaking up for those without a voice.

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, volunteers for the Court’s Equal Justice Committee, is 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. 

She is the recipient of the Meritorious Award by the American Bar Association, the Community

Impact Award by the Indo-Caribbean Alliance, the Pioneering Indo-Caribbean Woman Award by the East Indian Diaspora Heritage Committee of New York, the 2022 Power Women of Queens Award by Schneps Media. Justice Gopee has received multiple citations from the Mayor, the State Assembly and the Queens Borough President for her volunteer work.  Justice Gopee is a frequent speaker on CLE panels and at community events, nationally and internationally on a myriad of topics including criminal practice, bail reform, domestic violence, ethics, and diversity.  She has been a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, helping get a street renamed Trinidad and Tobago in Queens and partnering with a multitude of organizations to recognize and include Caribbean speakers and entertainers in events throughout New York City.

Justice Gopee was born in Trinidad and migrated with her family to the United States as an

infant. She has two children and enjoys traveling back to Trinidad as often as she can. She grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and attended local public schools. She graduated with honors from the State University of New York at Binghamton and earned her Juris Doctorate at St. John’s School of Law, where she received Dean’s List honors.