The Honorable Javier E. Vargas has been a Judge of the Family Court of the State of New York, Kings County, since December 2015.  Prior thereto, Judge Vargas served with distinction for the New York State Unified Court System since 1993 in various capacities, including as Senior Court Attorney at the New York State Court of Appeals; Principal Law Clerk in N.Y.S. Supreme Court and the Appellate Division; Chief Court Attorney for the Supreme Court’s Appellate Term; and, most recently, as a Civil Court Judge assigned to the Housing Part in Bronx County between 2013 and 2015.  Judge Vargas received his B.S. from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, his J.D. from SUNY School of Law, and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 1993.

Judge Vargas is actively involved with the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) as a Regional Deputy President, the Latino Judges Association of N.Y., where he is a Board Member, and the International LGBT Judges Association, as a Board Member.  Judge Vargas has lectured in various capacities and has received several accolades, including the 2018 Spirit Award from the NYS Cervates Society, 2017 HNBA Latino Judge of the Year, a 2016 Special Recognition Award by the National Hispanic Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair, and the 2016 Annual Recognition by the Association of Housing Court Judges.  Among the other positions he has held are: HNBA Secretary of Elections, President-Elect of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA), Chair of the PRBA Scholarship Fund Selection Committee, selecting hundreds of law students scholarship recipients, and Co-Chair of the HNBA-NY Law School-Sin Limites Program, working with a team of HNBA members to mentor dozens of high school and college students on their path to law school.  Judge Vargas’s commitment and contributions to communities of color is further evidenced by his membership in charitable and professional associations, including the New York City Bar Association and Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York.