Adams taps second pick to replace Barbadian Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix as corporation counsel

After his first nominee, Randy Mastro, withdrew his candidacy to succeed Barbadian-born Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix as New York City’s Corporation Counsel, embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced his intention to nominate Muriel Goode-Trufant as the city’s next corporation counsel.

Adams said Goode-Trufant is a longtime public servant, having spent more than 30 years in the New York City Department of Law, where she has served as acting corporation counsel since this summer.

As corporation counsel, the mayor said Goode-Trufant will lead the New York City Department of Law, which is primarily responsible for providing legal representation to the City of New York — for the Mayor’s Office, the Public Advocate’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office, city agencies and the City Council — in all affirmative and defensive civil litigation.

“I am excited to announce my intention to nominate of Muriel Goode-Trufant as New York City’s next corporation counsel,” said Mayor Adams. “Muriel’s record speaks for itself — a dedicated public servant with more than 30 years of experience at the Law Department, a recipient of the agency’s highest honor, and a lawyer who has fought for equity and justice.

“As our next corporation counsel, Muriel is prepared to serve our entire municipal government and use the full power of our legal system to lead our city forward,” he added.

Goode-Trufant said she is “humbled and honored by the intention to be nominated by Mayor Adams to serve as the city’s next corporation counsel.

“Through my more than three decades as an attorney at the New York City Law Department, I am keenly aware of the vital role the corporation counsel plays in New York City government,” she added.

After much speculation and reports, Adams nominated nationally recognized litigator Mastro to succeed Justice Hinds-Radix as the city’s next corporation counsel in late July.

But Mastro, a former top aide to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, withdrew his nomination last month amid very contentious City Council hearings.

Goode-Trufant, a graduate of Temple University School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania, will also need the City Council’s approval to replace Justice Hinds-Radix, who stepped down from her post at the end of May after leading the Department of Law since January 2022.

Adams said Goode-Trufant began her career at the New York City Department of Law in 1991 as an attorney in the General Litigation Division, where she held numerous roles, including assistant chief of the division.

She later became the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity officer and Special Federal Litigation Division chief.

The mayor said Goode-Trufant became the Law Department’s managing attorney in 2015 and first assistant corporation counsel in 2023.

Before working for the city, she was an associate at the Philadelphia law firm Cohen, Shapiro, Polisher, Shiekman, and Cohen.

Goode-Trufant has won numerous legal awards, including the Law Department’s highest honor, the Corporation Counsel’s Award for Distinguished Legal Service, in 2011.

Under New York City Charter, the nominee for corporation counsel must be confirmed by the City Council.

When he first nominated Mastro to succeed Justice Hinds-Radix in July, Adams lauded the Barbadian-born jurist for her “decades of service to New Yorkers, especially her last two years as corporation counsel to our city, as well as Muriel Goode-Trufant for serving as acting corporation counsel in the previous two months.

“Sylvia has played a pivotal role in furthering this administration’s vision to protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make our city more affordable and livable,” he said. “We are grateful for her service to the people of New York.”

After leaving her post as the city’s top lawyer on May 31, Justice Hinds-Radix shared with Caribbean Life a farewell email she had written to staffers.

“For over two years, I have had the honor of serving as the 81st Corporation Counsel,” said Justice Hinds-Radix. “Leading one of the finest law offices in the country and contributing to the betterment of the city has been the privilege of a lifetime.”

During her City Council confirmation hearing, she recalled that she had pledged to uphold the office’s mission “to protect and defend the interests of the City of New York.”

“Together, we have fulfilled that promise with excellence and integrity,“ she said, stating that a main priority during her tenure was to strengthen the office “to help us more effectively carry out its mission.”

Justice Hinds-Radix said what they had achieved in other areas at a time of “great challenge“ was spectacular.”

During her previous roles as a Supreme Court and Appellate Court Justice in New York, she said she was always impressed by the knowledge and professionalism of the Law Department members who appeared before her.

As corporation counsel, she said she had seen up close staffers’ “deep expertise“ across dozens of specialized areas, their steadfast dedication to the rule of law, and “unwavering commitment to protect the interests of the city and its residents.

“I have also been deeply moved and encouraged by the feedback received by those inspired by the story of an individual born on the 166-square-mile island of Barbados, becoming the first Caribbean-born woman to serve as corporation counsel, and the second woman, and the first woman of color, to serve in that position,“ Justice Hinds-Radix said.

“It has been an honor to work with you serving the people of this great city,“ she added.