The Honorable Elizabeth Bonina has been consistently voted a Top Mediator and Arbitrator since the inception of the New York Law Journal “Best Of” survey. In 2024, she was voted the #1 Mediator and #1 Arbitrator in the state and has been voted the #1 Arbitrator in New York State seven times in the last 11 years.

During her time as a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County, and as an arbitrator and mediator at NAM, Judge Bonina has facilitated the resolution of myriad cases, including business and commercial matters, employment, personal injury, automobile accidents, construction/labor law, nursing home, premises liability, slip and fall, social media discovery disputes, and sports and recreation cases. Judge Bonina has handled several construction contract cases, including a dispute she heard while serving on the bench which involved the construction of a new post office, and as a Hearing Officer for NAM, she has arbitrated and mediated real estate and construction matters, including a breach of contract matter involving a residential window installation. More significantly, it is her intelligence, determination, and patience that makes her an effective neutral and enables her to facilitate resolutions in even the most complex, highly emotional, and contentious cases.

In addition to the wide range of matters she regularly manages, Judge Bonina has significant experience and skill handling sexual abuse and sexual harassment matters. She has mediated cases involving claims of harassment, abuse (Child Victim’s Act), rape, sexual molestation, and sex trafficking. She has also mediated cases with claims against individually named defendants, employers, educational and religious institutions. Parties involved in these matters frequently request that Judge Bonina mediate their cases because she is known to treat each matter and those involved with sensitivity, patience, and respect. She handles high-profile matters with the utmost discretion and confidentiality. Furthermore, Judge Bonina has presented CLE seminars on sexual harassment and sexual abuse matters and is at the forefront of current developments in the law, believing it to be crucial to her effectiveness as a neutral.

Representative matters over which she presided while serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court include a complex multi-party commercial case involving the removal of the director of the board without cause, and the dissolution of the company including shareholder rights; a major class action lawsuit involving a class of employees who alleged unlawful deductions from their wages and a landlord tenant case involving an alleged invasion of privacy due to newly installed surveillance cameras.

Judge Bonina’s past judicial and administrative experience includes serving as an Administrative Law Judge at the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC). She was appointed the Chief Administrative Law Judge at TLC and served in that capacity for six of her ten years at that tribunal. She also served as a court examiner/referee pursuant to Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law in the Appellate Division, Second Department.

Since 2004, Judge Bonina has been on the faculty of St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches undergraduate courses in Business Law, Sports Law, and Principles of Insurance. Previously, she was a partner in a law firm where she specialized in personal injury and medical malpractice matters.

Judge Bonina is available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout New York State.