To the Editor:
I am running for Guilderland Town judge. In your recent issue, you included excerpts from an interview I had with your publication in 2019.

In 2022, I accepted an appointment as a Court Attorney Referee in the 4th Judicial District. My duties include presiding over appearances in the District's Family Court first appearance parts, using settlement techniques to resolve custody/visitation cases; determining motions pre, post and during trial; mediating Family Court cases; and conducting trials in Family and Supreme Courts.

Throughout my career, I practiced in courts all over upstate New York, from town, village, and city courts, county level and Supreme and Appellate Division State Courts, as well as Federal Court, providing me with diverse experience as well as working with thousands of clients from varied backgrounds, and learning best practices from the hundreds of judges I have appeared before.

In addition, on both sides of the bench I have extensive experience with domestic violence cases, which are a large portion of the local courts’ cases. 

After 2019 and before my appointment, I continued to be the principal at Tabak Law Office, a law firm that existed in Guilderland for 27 years, where I focused on matrimonial and family law. I was able to keep my practice going through the pandemic, working through difficult issues when the courts were virtually shut down and I needed to have my clients provided with logistical and financial security and support.

My first day on the bench in Guilderland will not be my first day on the bench in a judicial capacity. It is my hope to take my years of “in the trenches experience,” and the knowledge and skills I have gained in the court system, and bring them to the Guilderland Town Court.

Margaret C. Tabak, Esq.

Court Attorney Referee

Guilderland