RI Governor Names New Family Court Judge

Karen Lynch Bernard, one of five candidates submitted by the Judicial Nominating Commission, was nominated by Governor Carcieri to the Family Court bench. Attorney Lynch-Bernard has a long history as a lawyer practicing family law in the State of Rhode Island after graduating from Suffolk University's School of Law.

The full article follows below.

Family Court nominee named

May 12, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri Tuesday nominated Karen Lynch Bernard, a Warwick lawyer with years of experience practicing family law, to the Family Court bench.

Bernard is a partner with her family’s Warwick firm, Lynch Bernard and Lynch, where she specializes in family and juvenile law. A four-time finalist for previous Family Court posts, she served as an assistant solicitor for the City of Warwick from 1989 to 1991.

“I am confident Karen’s knowledge and understanding of the law and the very complex issues that come before the Family Court, combined with her patience, integrity and zealousness, will be an asset as an associate judge of the Family Court,” Carcieri said in a statement. Her nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.

Lynch went to work for her father John D. Lynch’s law firm after graduating from Suffolk School of Law. There she works with her sister, Erin P. Lynch, a state senator who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and brother, John D. Lynch Jr., a member of the Ethics Commission. A lifelong Warwick resident, she lives in Warwick with her husband, Robert, and three children.

Lynch, 46, said she received the call from the governor around 1:35 p.m. “I was literally shaking,” said Lynch, who has long pursued a seat on the court. “I love Family Court,” she said. “Family Court is my main focus.”

Her years mediating among her nine siblings will equip her well for the job, she said. She added that she planned to step aside from hearing cases she or her family’s firm has been involved in as necessary, based on conversations with other judges. “I don’t really see that as being a big issue,” she said.

Her goal, she said, will be to get families through the judicial process with as little turmoil and as much civility and dignity as possible.

Lynch would replace Family Court Judge Howard I. Lipsey, who retired in late 2008 and has continued to sit in retirement.

Her name was among five forwarded to the governor by the Judicial Nominating Commission in March 2009. The others were Joseph A. Abbate, Family Court Magistrate Patricia K. Asquith, David N. Bazar and Rossie L. Harris Jr. The position comes with a base salary of about $140,642.
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