Justin Barry, chief clerk of New York City Criminal Court
Justin Barry, chief clerk of New York City Criminal Court, is the recipient of the National Center for State Court’s 2019 Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Court Administration, which recognizes a court leader, other than a sitting judge, whose work has significantly contributed to improving the administration of the state courts. This award – named for the former U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who helped found NCSC – honors a person who demonstrates professional expertise, leadership, integrity, creativity, innovativeness, and sound judgment.
Barry is credited with playing a key role in reducing case backlogs, increasing trial capacity and improving disposition times as well as instituting policy reforms to modernize the New York City Criminal Court, which processes nearly 200,000 cases a year. As the court’s highest ranking non-judicial official, he prepares and implements the court’s annual multi-million-dollar budget, manages day-to-day court operations and supervises more than 1,300 employees throughout the city’s five boroughs. An attorney, he also assists the court’s administrative judge with policy matters and researches complex legal and operational initiatives, among other duties.