Judge L. Austin D’Souza was elected to New York City Civil Court (New York County) on November 8, 2022 and has served in Kings County Civil Court since January 2023.

Judge D’Souza has dedicated his entire career to public service. He began his legal career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel with the New York City Law Department and rose to the rank of Senior Counsel. As a lead trial attorney, he litigated high exposure jury trials in New York County, Supreme Court. Before his election to the bench, he served as a Principal Law Clerk at the New York Court of Claims, a court of exclusive jurisdiction over claims against the State of New York. As a law clerk, he drafted hundreds of judicial decisions, mediated numerous settlements, handled countless conferences, assisted judges with bench trials in the Court of Claim and jury trials in Bronx County, Supreme Court, and mentored many law student interns.

In June of 2018, then-Chief Judge Janet DiFiore of the New York Court of Appeals appointed Judge D’Souza to the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission. The Commission leads the judiciary’s effort to promote equal participation and equal justice for persons of color in the court system.

In 2021, as a Commissioner of the Williams Commission, Judge D’Souza spearheaded the relaunch of the New York County Special Masters Program by bringing together the Williams Commission, the New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA), and the New York State Unified Court System. The Program focuses on creating a pipeline for attorneys of color and other underrepresented attorneys to volunteer in the Supreme Court, New York County (Civil Division) and inspire them to become judges. In 2022, Judge D’Souza helped expand the Special Masters Program to Supreme Court, Bronx County (Civil Division). This year, he is working on expanding the Program to Supreme Court in Kings County and Queens County (Civil Division).

Judge D’Souza is a leader of a number of bar associations. In June 2022, Judge D’Souza was appointed to the New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates, the governing body of the State Bar, to vote on reports, policy recommendations, and rules for the organization. He also serves as a Director on the Board of Directors of NYCLA. Judge D’Souza recently served as President of South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY). He also was the chairperson of the New York City Bar Association’s Disability Law Committee’s Law School Outreach subcommittee. Since 2019, Judge D’Souza has served on the New York Law School Association Board of Directors. He also is an active member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY), the Metropolitan Black Bar Association of New York (MBBA), and the New York Women’s Bar Association (NYWBA).

Before law school, Judge D’Souza worked for the Governor of Washington State and then as a public finance consultant in California. He earned his law degree from New York Law School, where he served as an Executive Board member of the Moot Court Association. He also earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University, where he graduated cum laude and was elected by the faculty to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.