Honorable Betty Weinberg Ellerin is the Chair of the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts and has been a member of the Committee almost since its inception in 1986. Currently she is senior counsel in the Litigation and Trial Practice Group of Alston & Bird.

Before joining Alston & Bird, Justice Ellerin served for more than 20 years as a justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York (First Department). She was the first woman appointed to that bench, and she served as its first woman Presiding Justice. She was also the first woman appointed as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts, where she was responsible for the operation of all trial courts within the City. Prior to her tenure on the bench, she served as Law Clerk to various State Supreme Court Justices.

Justice Weinberg Ellerin is a founding member of numerous New York and national professional organizations. She is currently chair of the New York State Continuing Education Board, vice-chair of the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, and vice chair of the Character Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department. She has served as president of the National Association of Women Judges and was a founding member and is a current board member of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York. Upon her retirement from the bench, she was appointed to a newly-created position with the judicial resources office, to assist in acclimating new judges to the bench and to help design training programs for new judges. She also is currently a Trustee Associate of New York University, and, in addition to various other bar association leadership roles, she is a past chair of the New York State Bar Associations Committee on Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction.

Justice Weinberg Ellerin received her LL.B. from New York University, where she was a recipient of the Florence Allen Scholarship. She is the recipient of innumerable awards from local and national bar associations including the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women of Achievement Award.