Last month St. Joseph’s University, New York students on the Brooklyn Campus were treated to the unique opportunity to attend a Q&A session with the Honorable Judge Keshia J. Espinal ’95, an SJNY alumna.
Hosted by the Offices of Alumni and Engagement and Career Preparation on Nov. 13, the Common Hour event provided those interested in pursuing law with the chance to ask questions, make connections and learn what will be expected of them.
Held in Tuohy Hall’s Alumni Room, Espinal took students through her journey from university student to Supervising Administrative Judge to the Kings County Criminal Court. Judge Espinal graduated from St. Joseph’s in 1995 with her B.A. in English Literature and Criminal Justice Certificate.
Judge Espinal took students through her experiences inside Tuohy Hall’s Alumni Room.
Despite knowing what path she wanted to pursue, Espinal admitted that getting into law school was a difficult process.
“I didn’t go to law school right away and I’ll tell you right now that getting in was hard for me. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about it. It’s a truth,” she shared.
And yet she persevered, going on to attend and graduate from Western New England University for law school.
Securing her law degree, Espinal worked as an Assistant District Attorney for nearly 17 years within several bureaus including criminal court, appeals and the supreme court.
It was in the domestic violence bureau where she spent most of her career, prosecuting cases in Queens County while supervising support staff, misdemeanor and felony assistants.
Students were given direct insight on the judicial process with Judge Espinal pulling from her own experiences.
After becoming a judge in 2017, Espinal worked for the Kings Country Criminal Court where she presided over domestic violence, special victims and human trafficking cases. In 2021, she was promoted to Supervising Administrative Judge, the first woman to hold this position in the Kings Country Criminal Court.
