Watson, James S., 1882-1952

James Watson was considered one of the most able jurists in 1930s-1950s New York and was a popular judge on the bench, lauded by the legal community and public alike. Born in 1882 in Spanish Town, Jamaica, Watson emigrated to the United States in June, 1905. In 1908, while attending high school, Watson began work as a law clerk in the law offices of House, Grossman and Vorhaus. From the Fall of 1910 until 1913 Watson attended evening sessions at The City College of New York; during the same period he attended New York Law School from which he received the LL. B. in 1913. He was admitted to the New York State Bar on April 6, 1914 and admitted to practice, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on May 1, 1914. Watson, by then head of the firm's Department of Corporation and Tax Laws, left House, Grossman and Vorhaus in 1920 and opened his own law practice. Soon after, Watson began to serve in New York City's Special Franchise Tax Division as a special assistant counsel.

In 1930, Watson successfully campaigned for Municipal Court judge in 1930 and along with running mate Charles E. Toney became one of the first two justices of African descent elected to judicial office in New York City. In this capacity, Watson became the first justice of African descent in Brooklyn to sit in judgment over white litigants. Several of the decisions Watson made in Municipal Court have made history in the annals of law, chief among them his 1934 ruling in Perry v. Norddeutscher Llyod (North German Llyod Steamship). Securing re-election by majority vote in 1940, Watson resigned his position in the Municipal Court ten years later to accept the presidency of the Municipal Civil Service Commission. The Commission's responsibilities included administering the civil service examination and recruiting qualified personnel for all departments of the city government. During his tenure, Watson won all legal actions brought against the Commission. He died in 1952 after a brief illness.