Jamaican American Beverly S. Tatham, Esq., was elected to the New York City Civil Court in Kings County on November 8, 2022, and will represent Brooklyn’s 7th Municipal Court District.
A current resident of Brownsville, Tatham was born in Brooklyn and raised by a single mother who immigrated to the US from Jamaica. She decided to pursue a career in law and public service at a young age and attended St. John’s University, earning a BS in Paralegal Studies with a minor in Business. She had her first experience as an advocate for justice as an undergraduate when a graduate student verbally attacked her and another student with race-based slurs over a parking spot conflict. When the graduate student was only lightly reprimanded, the inequitable result strongly motivated Tatham to become an advocate for vulnerable and voiceless populations.
She received her law degree from the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Touro Law School in Huntington, New York, working in the Family Law Clinic during her time there as a representative of low-income residents and immigrant women in divorce proceedings, child support enforcement, and family offense litigation. Tatham was drawn to domestic violence cases and used her skills to aid women in finding safety and shelter and starting new lives. She also worked as a pro bono attorney for a similar population of women in New York City who experienced violent domestic situations.
Tatham currently serves as a senior trial attorney at a Fortune 500 insurance company’s in-house firm. She has nearly two decades of experience in litigation, trial advocacy, mediation, arbitration, and pre-trial settlements beneficial to her clients. In the past 15 years, Tatham has committed time, talent, and funds to mentoring and advising many young girls in Brooklyn and providing support to their female caregivers with educational and leadership development workshops, cultural enrichment activities, and social action programs. She believes that her lived experience as a Jamaican American woman and three-time cancer survivor combined with her professional skills offers the commonsense and compassionate approach needed to create equitable solutions to real-world problems. Her understanding of the court system and experience as a trial attorney, as well as her certification as a court mediator and work rooted in her faith, will contribute to her effectiveness as a judge.
Upon her victory, Tatham posted to Facebook, “To God be the Glory, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
It is truly an honor and privilege to receive the overwhelming vote of the confidence from the community that help raised me and now has elevated me to the office of Civil Court Judge. THANK YOU to the amazing people of East New York, Starrett City, Brownsville, Bushwick and Cypress Hills – Brooklyn’s 7th Municipal Court District. I share this WIN with you. You have inspired and transformed my life during this campaign and I eternal grateful for your support. THANK YOU to my family, friends, campaign team, volunteers and supporters. The success of this campaign, is a culmination of purpose, resilience and your commitment to the vision through your investment of your time, talents and treasure. There would be no Judge Elect Tatham without you my village. Please continue to keep me covered in your thoughts and prayers as I continue to walk in obedience and administer justice with wisdom, integrity, service and excellence.”
