Jonathan Lippman is an American jurist and currently Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.

[edit] Early life and education

Lippman graduated from New York University (NYU) in 1965, receiving his law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1968.^[1]

[edit] Legal career

In 1989, he became the deputy chief administrator for management support of the New York State court system, responsible for the day-to-day management.^[1] In 1995, then-Governor George E. Pataki appointed Lippman as judge of the New York Court of Claims.^[1] In 1996, Lippman became New York's chief administrative judge.^[2] He served in that capacity for 11 years until 2007, the longest anyone has spent in that position.^[2] In 2005, he was elected to the State Supreme Court for a 14-year term. In May 2007, then-Governor, Eliot Spitzer, appointed Lippman to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.^[3] On January 13, 2009, Governor David Paterson appointed Lippman to the position of Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.^[3] He was confirmed in his position by voice vote of the State Senate on February 12th, 2009.^[4][5] He succeeds Judith S. Kaye, who served as the state's first female Chief Judge from 1993 to 2008.^[1][4][5]

Lippman was chosen from a list provided to Governor Paterson by the New York Commission on Judicial Nomination, in a process that drew scrutiny in 2008 when the commission did not refer any female or minority candidates to the governor for selection.^[3][5]

Much of Lippman's career in the justice system in New York has been in administrative roles, where he distinguished himself as an able and thorough administrator. He has been credited with persuading the state legislature to double the financing of the court system and pass other reform measures creating special purpose courts and updating the jury system. Justice Lippman wrote a summary of this work in January of 2009 in the New York Law Journal.^[6] His resume as an appellate judge has been described as "thin," but in the 20 months that he was Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department he presided over more than 2,000 cases and wrote 14 opinions.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• New York Law Journal, Judge Profile (Opinions written, biographical information, news articles): Click here
• New York Times, "Times Topics: Jonathan Lippman." List and summary of coverage of Lippman in the New York Times: Click here

v • d • e Current elected and appointed statewide political officials of New York U.S. Senate Chuck Schumer · Kirsten Gillibrand State government David Paterson, Governor · Richard Ravitch, Lieutenant Governor · Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General · Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller Senate Malcolm Smith, Temporary President · Pedro Espada Jr.,Majority Leader · Dean Skelos, Minority Leader Assembly Sheldon Silver, Speaker · Ronald Canestrari, Majority Leader · Brian Kolb, Minority Leader Court of Appeals (appointed) Jonathan Lippman, Chief Justice · Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick · Robert Smith · Victoria Graffeo · Susan Phillips Read · Eugene Pigott, Jr. · Theodore Jones