Home Community Features & Events Here comes the judge? Brehon Lawyer Lyons in Running for Bench Role
"LIFE IS ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR OTHERS": Des Lyons

Here comes the judge? Brehon Lawyer Lyons in Running for Bench Role

Community Features & Events August 27, 2023 by Peter Nolan

“I really have a love for the law, I have a passion for it, and passion for the work. And it's something that really interests me.” 

56-year-old Desmond Lyons has been pursuing that love and that passion for many years as a lawyer, co-founder of a law firm, a judge, as outside counsel for various companies, including a multimillion dollar not for profit social services agency, and early in his career Lyons served as assigned counsel for indigent criminal defendants, an experience he says, “gave me great courtroom experience and highlighted for me the needs of those communities.”

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With all of this experience in his locker it is hardly surprising then that the Westchester based attorney is under consideration for not one, not two, but three judgeships.

AIMING HIGH: At the town hall in his native Irvington, NY, Desmond Lyons setting sights on senior judicial position

AIMING HIGH: At the town hall in his native Irvington, NY, Desmond Lyons setting sights on senior judicial position

As he explains it, “I've been serving as a judge for 13 years, and in Westchester County as a local lawyer for the past 30 years. And now, I am looking to serve at a higher level at a higher judicial role.”

Lyons continued, “I'm on a list with a lot of people for the New York State Supreme Court, on the Democratic side. That's an elected position, but there's a lot of people in line waiting for those.”

“You know, one of the things he always taught us and another thing that we try to pass on to our kids is always trying to know something about everything, and everything about something. And I love that my kids can recite that.”

So, that is potential Judgeship number one. Up next is the New York State Court of Claims. That position is by appointment of the governor. 

And Lyons told the Irish Echo, “I've been shortlisted for a federal magistrate position as well,” making for his third potential judgeship. 

“Outside of the State Supreme Court, I don't see myself as a politician,” Lyons told the Irish Echo, reiterating his love for the law. “I have a passion for it, and passion for the work. And it's something that really interests me,” he said.

“And by the way,” Lyons went on, “having five kids, we preach to them all the time the importance of service and our obligation to serve.” With his wife Kerry, Lyons has an 18 year old son, a 16 year old daughter, and identical triplet sons. “And, you know, we talk all the time that life is not about what you can get but what you're doing for others. That's what makes a meaningful life and what makes a meaningful career.”

For Lyons these values come directly from his father, a Cork man, Dr. Michael Lyons, and his mother, Yvonne, who grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. “I tie that (the obligation to serve) back to my Irish heritage, as a son of immigrants. It kind of gives me a unique perspective. And you understand the hardships that the immigrant communities face, and relate to that.”

Lyons told the Irish Echo that his father did medical research at Rockefeller University and called him, “one of the smartest people I've ever met.”

"I DON'T SEE MYSELF AS A POLITICIAN": Des Lyons

"I DON'T SEE MYSELF AS A POLITICIAN": Des Lyons

“You know, one of the things he always taught us and another thing that we try to pass on to our kids is always trying to know something about everything, and everything about something. And I love that my kids can recite that.” “And that was what he did,” Lyons told me,” he knew something about everything. And he could talk about Irish literature, recite Yeats poems from memory, and then go in and perform complex research on cells and genetics.” “He was,” the proud son concludes, “just brilliant.” 

Lyons’ pride in his heritage manifests itself in his involvement in a number of Irish organizations, including the Brehon Law Society in Westchester County, where he serves as Chairperson. Lyons also sits on the Board of the Society of Irish American Lawyers, and formerly served as the Chairman of the Board of the Irish International Business Network.

Lyons has been recognized for his efforts and has been selected as an honoree for the Business 100 Honors by Irish American magazine, on two occasions, and he is particularly proud to be the upcoming recipient of the St. Thomas More Award. More is the patron saint of lawyers and is considered to be an inspiration to judges. 

“I am so very much looking forward to it in September,” Lyons said. The award will be presented to Lyons at the Great Irish Fair in Brooklyn on September 16. The date is an easy one for the attorney to remember, “because it also happens to be my dad's birthday.

 

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