Hon. Patricia Brimais-Tenemille

Hon. Patricia Brimais-Tenemille currently serves as a Support Magistrate in the Rockland and Putnam County Family Courts, a role she has held for over a decade. In this capacity, she presides over a broad range of family law matters, including child support, spousal support, and paternity proceedings.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Hon. Brimais-Tenemille served as a Senior Assistant County Attorney in the Family Court Bureau of the Westchester County Attorney’s Office. There, she supervised a team of attorneys and prosecuted cases involving abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, guardianships, expungements, and child support.

Her extensive legal career also includes leadership and advocacy roles. She was Executive Director of the Westchester County Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action, and previously worked as a Staff Attorney at Westchester Putnam Legal Services, where she represented clients in cases involving domestic violence, custody, visitation, and other family law matters. She began her legal career as an associate at Abel & Brustein-Kampel, P.C., a law firm focused on divorce and family law.

Hon. Brimais-Tenemille is a Certified Family and Divorce Mediator and has served as a panelist for the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. She has also been a guest lecturer at Pace University School of Law’s “New Directions” program, which supports attorneys re-entering the legal profession.

Her professional service includes board memberships with the Rockland County Women’s Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY). She has also been actively involved with the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission Advisory Group, the Historical Society of the New York Courts, the National Bar Association, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the Westchester County Black Bar Association, the Hudson Valley Hispanic Bar Association, and the Rockland County Bar Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation.

In addition to her legal work, Hon. Brimais-Tenemille has taught Family Law, Business Law, and Civil Litigation as an Adjunct Professor at Rockland Community College.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her Juris Doctor, along with a Certificate in International Law, from Pace University School of Law. While in law school, she served as a Senior Associate for the Pace Environmental Law Review, and participated in both the Environmental Litigation Clinic and the Civil Litigation Clinic. She also completed a semester of legal studies at the University College of Laws in London, England.

Hon. Brimais-Tenemille is active in several civic and community organizations and remains committed to public service and the advancement of justice in family law.