The Hon. Lisa Bloch Rodwin is a judge for the Erie County Family Court in the Eighth Judicial District of New York. Judge Bloch Rodwin was appointed to the bench by former Governor David Paterson in 2008 and was then subsequently elected to the Family Court bench in 2009.
She graduated with honors with her B.A. in history and political science-urban affairs from Douglass College, Rutgers University in 1979. She went on to earn her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1984.
While in law school, Bloch Rodwin clerked with the New York State Attorney General’s Office for one year beginning in 1982.
She began her legal career at the Erie County District Attorney’s Office in 1985 and would remain with the office until her appointment to the Family Court in 2008. During her over two decades as a prosecutor, Bloch Rodwin served as an assistant district attorney assigned to the Buffalo City Court Bureau, the Grand Jury Bureau, and the Appeals Bureau. She was also the assistant chief of the Buffalo City Court Bureau for one year beginning in 1993.
Then, in 1995, Bloch Rodwin was instrumental in establishing the first Domestic Violence Bureau in New York State outside of the City of New York and would be also be named chief of the Bureau. In that capacity, she developed protocols for local law enforcement on the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence crimes and helped to streamline interview policies for the Child Advocacy Center to diminish the trauma of children interviewed by multiple agencies.
In her efforts to raise awareness on the issues of domestic violence and child abuse, Bloch Rodwin has served extensively as a guest speaker and lecturer on the subjects. She has appeared on such television shows as Oprah and 20/20 and has also lectured at various academic institutions as well as the Erie County Police Academy.
Her advocacy extended to her volunteer efforts as well. She served as the founder and president of the Erie County Family Justice Center and was also the founder of the It Happened to Alexa Foundation which provides assistance to families of child abuse and sexual assault survivors.
Some of her other memberships have included the Friends of the Child Advocacy Center, the Erie County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Erie County Bar Association, the New York State Women’s Bar Association, and the Family Justice Center Board.
In 2018, Judge Bloch Rodwin received the Lois Haight Award of Excellence and Innovation from the U.S. Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus and in 2016 was honored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for her work in establishing the first Immigrant and Refugee Collaborative in the State of New York.
While on the Family Court, Judge Bloch Rodwin was selected to serve on the New York State Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee and also worked with the Department of Social Services to help reduce the number of minority children that are placed in foster care.
At the time of her appointment to the Family Court, Judge Bloch Rodwin resided in Amherst, New York with her husband Michael.