On April, 5, 2011, the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with a symposium, co-sponsored by the New York UniversityReview ofLaw andSocialChange.The Symposium was a gala event. It was attended by a long list of distinguished judges, lawyers, court administrators, advocates, and activists.

Anniversaries, though, are times not only for celebration, but for reflection. In keeping with the reflective tradition, the April 5 th Symposium looked both backwards and forwards as it took stock of progress, stasis, and unfinished agendas twenty-five years after the New York Task Force on Women in the Courts issued its report and the New York State Committee on Women in the Courts was first appointed.

This introduction will set the stage for the rest of the volume by providing a brief history of the Committee and a summary of the Symposium events.