Frontrunner for state judge in Brooklyn writes lazy cover letter

This Brooklyn civil court judge should be worried about being found guilty of bad grammar.

Jill Epstein, a leading contender for a higher-paying state judgeship, recently submitted an embarrassing and error-filled cover letter to Brooklyn Democratic officials overseeing the nomination process.

In it, the 63-year-old lawyer boasted that her more than 38 years of legal experience currently includes her work as a « Civil Corut [sic] Judge” and previous employment as “Principal [sic] Law Clerk.

‘This may be the worst letter I’ve ever received from a judicial candidate,’ Brooklyn Democratic District Leader Douglas Schneider joked while releasing part of Epstein’s candidacy on Tuesday. on Facebook.

« I can excuse a typo or 2, but this has at least 8 (and that’s forgiving)… How can I consider you if you can’t even read your letter again? And this person is actually a head off the list!”

Although Schneider removed all traces of the letter’s author’s identity from his post, sources disclosed the judicial candidate challenged by spell check to The Post as Epstein.

They also provided an email she sent to party officials on Wednesday, in which she expressed « many apologies and great embarrassment » for accidentally providing an « unedited draft » of her cover letter. The email included a properly edited version of Epstein’s June 24 letter seeking review of one of 10 vacant state Supreme Court seats up for grabs in Brooklyn this year.

« It’s comical – just like the whole judicial selection process, » said a longtime Brooklyn Democratic insider.

State Supreme Court justices earn $210,900 a year. Since 2019, Epstein has earned $196,200 a year as a civil court judge.

The Kings County Democratic Committee – which is currently facing serious wrangling over party leadership – will hold a court convention early next month to nominate 10 candidates for open justice seats, serving 14-year terms. . The candidates will be put on the November ballot, along with two incumbents seeking re-election.

Court races in the city are usually decided by party leaders at conventions — not by voters. Democratic candidates for judges in Brooklyn and most other New York boroughs generally run unopposed, as Republicans are vastly outnumbered and don’t bother to contest.

Following Schneider’s post, some of his Facebook friends got into a heated debate with him about Epstein’s overuse and misuse of commas.

« Big deal even though I’m an Oxford comma fan, » a friend said.

Schneider shot back, « Me too, but that’s a superfluous comma, not an Oxford comma. »

Epstein also had issues in the letter with the use of periods, the end of full sentences and the distinction between the job she has and the job she wants.

“As the current Supreme Court. [sic] As a current judge who served” as a supervising judge in civil court, wrote Epstein, whose current job includes writing legal opinions.

Asked if she was concerned that her grammatically challenged letter could hurt her chances of serving on a Kings County Supreme Court bench, Epstein said she hoped the nominating committee would understand « we all do errors » and would accept its modified version.

“I am not illiterate! I know how to write,” she insisted.