On February 18, 2026, at the Governor’s Lunar New Year celebration in Manhattan Chinatown, Justice Lillian Wan received a Special Citation from Governor Kathy Hochul. This recognition commemorates Justice Wan’s work in serving fellow New Yorkers with distinction and upholding the highest standards of excellence in public service. Justice Wan expressed deep gratitude for receiving the Special Citation from Governor Hochul, made all the more meaningful by being honored alongside Asian American Federation (AAF) CEO Catherine Chen and Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) Co-Executive Director Vanessa Leung, two leaders whose contributions to the Asian-American community have been noteworthy and impactful.
In 2022, Governor Hochul appointed Justice Wan to the Appellate Division, Second Department, making her the first Asian American woman to sit in the Appellate Division in New York State. Despite achieving this milestone in the New York State courts, Justice Wan’s path to the bench was not one she originally envisioned for herself. As a practicing attorney, she never appeared before a judge who looked like her, so she never considered it a possibility. That changed when she began working closely with Surrogate Judge Margarita López Torres, the first Latina Surrogate Judge in New York State. Judge López Torres became her mentor and encouraged her to apply for a mayoral appointment to the family court bench, where her experience was strongest, and that the City of New York would benefit from having her as a judge. “She saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Justice Wan reflected.
Since being appointed to the bench in 2012, Justice Wan has witnessed a remarkable shift in representation. When she started, Asian American judges across New York State made up under 2% of the judiciary. Today, that number has grown to about 5% of the approximately 1,300 sitting New York state judges.
Governor Hochul, who awarded Justice Wan the special recognition, has played a meaningful role in that progress. Since taking office in August 2021, the Governor has appointed nine Asian American judges, six of whom have been appointed to the New York State Court of Claims, a higher number than any Governor in the State’s history. She has also appointed three Asian American judges to the Appellate Division, the mid-level appellate court in New York State. Justice Wan was appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department in May 2022. Justice Philip Hom was appointed in 2024. Most recently, Justice Margaret Chan was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department. Justice Wan, Justice Hom, and Justice Chan are all members of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.
Justice Wan’s own path was shaped not only by Judge López Torres but also by the Honorable Randall T. Eng, former Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, and now practicing attorney who holds a truly historic distinction: he was the first Asian American judge in the entire state of New York, appointed to the Criminal Court by Mayor Ed Koch in 1983. Justice Eng mentored Justice Wan early in her career and instilled in her a philosophy she carries to this day: visibility matters. Your job is essential, but you need to do more. Asian American attorneys and judges must be active in bar associations, judicial organizations, their law schools, their universities, and their communities. They should embrace leadership roles and ensure people know who they are.
Justice Wan has made it her personal mission to be for others what Judge López Torres and Justice Eng were for her. She remains accessible, attends various events to stay visible, and holds leadership positions in organizations that uplift the Asian-American legal community. As a mentor, Justice Wan sees talented attorneys routinely talking themselves out of applying for judicial positions, convinced that others are more qualified, that they haven’t been around long enough, or that it simply isn’t their turn. Her advice to students and legal professionals who want to follow her footsteps is direct: apply anyway. Often, the only difference between the person who gets the position and the person who doesn’t is that the latter didn’t second-guess themselves.
Besides individual efforts, Justice Wan points to the power of community organizations in building a stronger pipeline. The Asian American Bar Association of New York runs a robust Judiciary Committee that vets judicial candidates, provides letters of endorsement, conducts mock interviews, and hosts educational programs about the path to becoming a judge. The Asian American Judges Association of New York, of which Justice Wan is a past president and current board member, works to support judges and grow their numbers. The organization is open to everyone, not just Asian American judges, and its mission is rooted in the belief that a bench that reflects the full population it serves is stronger and more just.
The Special Citation from Governor Hochul captures both the breadth of Justice Wan’s career and the philosophy that has defined it, recognizing her historic appointment to the Appellate Division, Second Department, alongside her leadership in the organizations that uplift Asian American attorneys, women in law, and the broader legal community. It is a recognition that spans decades of work, from her earliest years on the bench to the mentorship and visibility efforts she continues today. Justice Wan has spent her career being the judge she did not see when she was a young attorney, and in doing so, has made sure that fewer people will have to wonder whether someone like them belongs on the bench.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Justice Wan on receiving this recognition from Governor Hochul.
