William Bodkin Appointed Nassau County District Court Judge

William Bodkin spent nearly two decades clerking, advising, and presiding over village court matters before the Nassau County Legislature gave him something he had been working toward since law school. On March 9, lawmakers voted unanimously to appoint the Port Washington resident as a judge of the Nassau County District Court for the Third Judicial District.

For Bodkin, the vote was personal. “This meant a lot to me,” he said. “It was the culmination of 20 years’ worth of work and training.”

The path that brought him to the bench is unusually deep. Bodkin served as senior principal law clerk to Appellate Division Justice Helen Voutsinas, chief court attorney in Nassau County Supreme Court, principal law clerk to Justices Norman St. George and Steven Jaeger, and principal appellate court attorney in the Appellate Division, First Department. That range of roles gave him a view of New York’s court system from nearly every angle short of sitting on the bench himself.

He also served as village justice in Manorhaven, a position he credits with shaping how he thinks about judging. Running unopposed in his elections there, he said he took the community’s confidence seriously. “The strong sense I got was that the community had a great deal of confidence in me,” he said. “I’m very, very grateful for that.”

The Manorhaven experience taught him something that legal briefs and appellate opinions cannot fully convey: patience. “Being a village justice really taught me a lot about what it means to be a judge,” he said. “The importance of being patient. That’s key.”

Bodkin’s interest in law did not start with courtroom ambitions. He studied history as an undergraduate and said the subject pulled him naturally toward legal thinking. “It always seemed to me that the law was the best way to truly understand American history and how American society works,” he said. The Constitution, he explained, was the bridge between his two interests.

From there, the goal was clear. He wanted to become a judge. Each position he took, he said, was part of building what he calls “the art of being a judge.”

That art, in his view, centers on listening. “The key to being a judge is that everybody who comes before you has a story,” he said. “Our job is to listen to those stories, hear what people have to say, and then make a ruling based upon the applicable law.”

The Nassau County District Court will test that philosophy at volume. The court handles misdemeanor criminal cases and civil disputes involving claims up to $15,000. The docket is broader and more demanding than anything Bodkin presided over in Manorhaven, and he is clear-eyed about the learning curve ahead. His stated immediate priority is straightforward: keep learning.

What grounds that commitment, he said, is the people who will stand before him. “What motivates me always is the people, the people of Nassau County,” he said. “You want to give people their day in court and make sure their right to be heard is respected.”

The unanimous legislative vote signals broad support for the appointment across party lines, a notable outcome in Nassau County’s often fractious political environment. Bodkin now joins a court that serves one of the most densely populated counties in New York, where the backlog of civil and criminal matters puts real pressure on judges to move cases efficiently without sacrificing fairness.

For residents who find themselves in District Court, whether over a fender-bender dispute or a misdemeanor charge, Bodkin’s background suggests a judge who has seen these cases from multiple sides. He has written the memos, argued the procedural questions, and watched how rulings land on real people. That experience, combined with what he learned in Manorhaven about slowing down and listening, may matter more on the bench than any single credential on his resume.

His appointment takes effect immediately. Court is, in a very real sense, now in session.