On May 7, 2010, Joy was named Deputy Comptroller, in charge of Audits and Special Projects, to Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos.
Prior to her current position, Joy served as Principal Law Clerk to Justice Karen V. Murphy of the Nassau County Supreme Court from 2006 to May 2010. She served as a Nassau County Assistant District Attorney for nearly twenty years under District Attorney Denis Dillon. Her positions included Chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Bureau and Deputy Chief of the Major Offense Bureau where she was named Special Prosecutor in the high profile case of the People of the State of New York v. Elizabeth Grubman, a defendant convicted of felony leaving the scene of an accident and assault after running down more than a dozen people outside of an East End night club. She served on the faculty of Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California as a Teaching Fellow before joining the District Attorney’s office. Joy received her juris doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law and her bachelor of arts degree from the University at Albany. She is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of the State of New York and the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Watson is an adjunct professor in the Criminal Justice Department of Molloy College and has lectured at the Nassau County Police Academy, the Nassau County Bar Association, Adelphi University, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the New York State Office of Court Administration’s CLE program on the Integrated Domestic Violence Court. She has authored a chapter in the New York State Bar Association Domestic Violence Journal entitled Paper or Power – A Fundamental Analysis Of New York Criminal Contempt Laws For Violating Orders of Protection (August 2008). In March 2009, Ms. Watson was a guest speaker at the Molloy College Institute for Interfaith Dialogue, making a presentation on Famous and Infamous Trials of the 15th-20th Centuries, The Trial of Susan B. Anthony. Joy has lectured at the Nassau County Bar Association and Nassau Community College on Elder Abuse. She has also given testimony before the New York State Senate and Assembly on proposed changes to New York State sex offender legislation. Ms. Watson was featured on the cover of Networking magazine, November/December 2002 issue.
Her professional affiliations include serving as President of the Nassau County Women’s Bar Association (2011-2012), Past President and member of the Board of Directors of the American Academy for Professional Law Enforcement, Vice President for Irish Americans in Government, Member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters Long Island, and President of the Courthouse Kiwanis. Ms. Watson is also a member of the Nassau County Bar Association, where she serves on the Advisory Board of the WE CARE Fund, the charitable arm of the association and is a member of the Women in the Courts and Criminal Law and Procedure committees. Joy is a member of the Former Assistant District Attorney’s Association, the Law Secretary/Court Attorney Association of Nassau County, the Government Finance Officers Association and the American Association of University Professors. She serves as a mentor for students at the Middle School in Hempstead Village. She also served on the County Executive’s Task Force on Family Violence. Ms. Watson’s awards include the Court Officer Benevolent Association of Nassau County’s (COBANC) 2010 Woman of the Year, 2010 1 in 9/Hewlett House Hall of Fame Inductee, the 2005 Hon. Thomas E. Ryan, Jr. Memorial Award presented by COBANC and a 2005 “Champion for Children” award winner presented by Parents for Megan’s Law.