Queens Criminal Court Judge Srividya (Vidya) Pappachan has built a career defined by resilience, reinvention, and an unwavering commitment to public service. Raised in Massachusetts and shaped by parents who sacrificed tirelessly to provide for their family, she carries the values of hard work and integrity into every case she presides over. Her path to the bench was anything but direct, winding through finance, law school, public defense, and community leadership before arriving at what she calls the pinnacle of her legal career.
“They instilled in me at an early age the importance of education, hard work, and the value of maintaining moral values such as kindness to others and integrity to oneself,” says Judge Pappachan of her parents. “My parents are my earliest role models and remain my role models to this day.”
Judge Pappachan’s family immigrated to the United States from India when she was four years old. Her father arrived first on a student visa, attending classes at Harvard Graduate School in the evening while working full-time during the day. Her mother found work at a plastics company and enrolled herself in evening computer programming classes. Together, they balanced work, school, and parenting with a determination that would leave a lasting imprint on their daughter. After initially pursuing a combined college and medical program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on a near-full scholarship, Judge Pappachan pivoted upon realizing that medicine was not her calling. She graduated with a degree in Economics and entered the financial industry at Deutsche Bank, guided by the values her parents had instilled. Yet after two years, she discovered the formula was not as simple as she had thought. A desire for more meaningful work led her to Hofstra Law School, where she attended evening classes while working full-time during the day, balancing what amounted to two demanding careers simultaneously.
Finding her passion in a law career, she left Deutsche Bank and took on a paralegal role at the Nassau County Legal Aid Society, her first exposure to the criminal justice system. There, she interviewed defendants in courthouse jail cells and witnessed firsthand the socioeconomic challenges facing young, undocumented immigrants. During her final year of law school, a pivotal mentorship with Michael Coleman changed the entire trajectory of her career. Coleman, then the director of the New York County Defender Services and her trial advocacy instructor, recognized her talent for litigation and encouraged her to pursue courtroom work. She abandoned plans for a career in corporate law and committed herself to public defense, joining the Criminal Defense Practice of the Legal Aid Society upon graduation.
“I realized that I wanted a career that I could find fulfilling, where I would wake up enjoying what I do because I was able to make an impact on someone’s life. I realized a career in public service had deeper meaning for me and would allow me to have an impact in improving society, one person at a time, one case at a time,” reflects Judge Pappachan. “As an immigrant, I could relate to the struggles and challenges that many members of our society faced.”
Over a decade of service as a public defender, Judge Pappachan represented defendants from all backgrounds charged with a wide array of crimes, championing social justice reform, and providing pathways to resources for disadvantaged individuals. Her transition to a Court Attorney role under Judge Josh E. Hanshaft in New York County Supreme Court deepened her judicial temperament, as the two brought together vastly different professional backgrounds, his as a former district attorney, hers in defense, forging thoughtful and balanced interpretations of the law. Simultaneously, her leadership extended beyond the courtroom. As Vice President of Public Interest with the South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY), she directed a fellowship program for aspiring public interest lawyers, launched a mentorship initiative that attracted nearly 100 members in its inaugural year, and hosted the podcast series “Celebrate Women!” spotlighting South Asian legal professionals.
Appointed to the bench in December 2021, Judge Pappachan began her judicial career presiding in Bronx Criminal Court before moving to Queens Criminal Court in 2024, where she has served since. Shortly after her appointment, she was featured in City & State, New York, as a figure representing the “Power of Diversity.” She credits a network of mentors at every stage of her life, and her husband, whom she calls her biggest cheerleader, for helping her reach a position she views as the pinnacle of her legal career.
“I hope that by seeing me in a robe, seated on the bench as a judge, I can inspire future generations, whether it be other South Asian immigrants, minorities, or other females, that they are capable of achieving what they set out to do,” says Judge Pappachan. “I always encourage young lawyers and law students who are just starting in their legal professions to use those initial years to explore opportunities and not be discouraged as they explore their own pathway to success.”
