Justice Edward O. Spain was designated a Justice of the Third Department effective December 30, 1994. He began his legal career in private practice in 1966 with his father in Troy. In 1967, he served as an Assistant District Attorney for Rensselaer County until he was called to active duty in the United States Navy, Judge Advocate General corps; he was honorably discharged in 1972 with the rank of lieutenant. Justice Spain returned to private practice and served as Deputy Corporation Counsel for the City of Troy for two years. In 1977, Justice Spain served as Deputy Clerk of Rensselaer County Surrogate’s Court and was elected to Troy Police Court, where he served until he was elected to the Rensselaer County Family Court in 1985. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1991 and, in January 1994, he was appointed Administrative Judge for the Third Judicial District. He was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2005. Justice Spain is a graduate of LaSalle Institute in Troy, Boston College and Albany Law School.
Justice Thomas E. Mercure graduated from Saint Michael’s College in 1965 and Georgetown University Law Center in 1968. A resident of Hudson Falls, in 1973 he joined the staff of the Washington County District Attorney in 1973 where, from 1974 to 1977, he served as First Assistant District Attorney. Justice Mercure served as Washington County District Attorney from 1977 until 1981 and as a Washington County Judge in 1981. He also was engaged in the private practice of law from 1969 until 1981. Justice Mercure was elected to the Supreme Court in 1981 and was reelected in 1995 and in 2009. He was named a Justice of the Third Department, effective January 1, 1988.
Justice Mercure served as Acting Presiding Justice of the Third Department from 2011 to 2012. He served on the Pattern Jury Instructions Committee from 1991 through 2006, served on the State Ethics Commission of the Unified Court System from 1989 until 2003, and as its chair from 1996 until 2003. He was a member of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics and Federal-State Judicial Council for many years from 2003. He temporarily sat on the Court of Appeals in 1994 and 2011 by designation.
Justice Mercure resigned from the Appellate Division in 2013 but remained on the Supreme Court trial bench and served as Administrative Judge of the Third Judicial District. He retired from the bench at the end of 2013. Justice Mercure has the distinction of longest service as a Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department. Justice Mercure is of counsel to an Albany law firm.
Presiding Justice Leonard A. Weiss was born in Rochester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Buffalo. His undergraduate education at the University of Buffalo was interrupted by Army service during World War II. After the war, Presiding Justice Weiss entered Albany Law School and graduated in 1948; he was admitted to practice that same year. From 1948 to 1978, he engaged in the general practice of law in Albany. In 1977, he was appointed a part-time Albany City Court Justice and was later elected to a full term on the City Court. In 1978, Presiding Justice Weiss was elected to the Supreme Court for the Third Judicial District (and re-elected in 1992). He was appointed to the Appellate Division in 1981 by Gov. Carey and designated Presiding Justice at the beginning of 1992 by Gov. Cuomo. He served in the latter position until the end of 1993, when he had to resign the post because he had reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He then continued on the Appellate Division as a certificated justice. In 1994, he retired from the Court. He then entered the private practice of law with the Albany firm of McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams.
Judge Howard A. Levine was born in Troy on March 4, 1932. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1956, the same year he was admitted to the New York State Bar. He was elected in 1970 to Schenectady County Family Court, a position he held until 1980. That year, he was elected a Supreme Court Justice for the Fourth Judicial District. Effective at the beginning of 1982, he was designated to the Appellate Division, Third Department. On August 13, 1993, Gov. Cuomo appointed him to the Court of Appeals. He became the 200th jurist to sit on the Court of Appeals since it was founded in 1846. He retired at the end of 2002 and joined an Albany law firm.
Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, Brooklyn, New York – Appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, January 1, 2018.
Administrative Judge, Ninth Judicial District – Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau, 2009 to 2017
Associate Justice, Appellate Term, Second Department, Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts – Appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau, 2007 to 2009
Justice, Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District, Westchester County – Elected 2007 to 2020
Hon. Matthew J. Jasen, Senior Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals – Law Clerk, 1975 to 1977
Admission to the Bar
NYS Appellate Division, Second Department, 1976
United States Supreme Court, 1990
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1992
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, 2002
United States District Court, Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, 1976, 1977
Education
J.D., St. John’s University School of Law, 1975
B.A., George Washington University, 1972
Publications & Leading Cases
Practice Commentaries to McKinney’s New York Domestic Relations Law
Directing Editor, McKinney’s MFL (text and Forms for New York Family Law)
Co-Author, Practitioner’s Handbook to Appeals to the Appellate Division of the State of New York, New York State Bar Association (2nd and 3rd Edition), 2005 and 2007
“Joint Ventures Can Increase Revenues But Activities With For-Profits Must be Properly, Lawfully Conducted”, New York Law Journal, pg. 7, col. 1, July 2, 2001
Reporter, Task Force on Administrative Adjudication, New York State Bar Association, 1988
Co-Editor, One on One, the publication of the New York State Bar Association Section on General Practice, 1987-1989
Co-Author, “A Tribute to Judge Matthew J. Jasen”, 35 Buffalo L. Rev. 14, 1986
New York Law of Domestic Relations, West Publishing Company, 1986
Reporter, Association of Supreme Court Justices Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions – Civil, 1985-1997
Contributing Author, Chapter, “The Broker’s Duties and Liabilities”… Rohan, Goldstein & Bobis, Real Estate Brokerage Law & Practice, Matthew Bender, 1984
Contributing Author, Chapter, “Termination of Parental Rights”, Child Custody & Visitation: Law & Practice, Matthew Bender, 1984
“The Civil Jurisdiction of the New York Court of Appeals: The Rule and Role of Finality”, 54 St. John’s Law Review 443, 1980
Professional & Civic Activities
Co-Chair, Judicial Task Force on the State Constitution, 2017 to Present
Member, Commercial Division Advisory Counsel, 2013 to Present
Member, Association of Supreme Court Justices Committee on Pattern Jury Instruction – Civil, 2008 to Present
Member, Judicial Commission on Interbranch Relations, 2008 to 2010
Adjunct Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law, 1999 to 2008
2nd Vice President, County Attorneys’ Association, State of New York, 1999 to 2000
Member, Judicial Hearing Officer Selection Committee for the Ninth District, 1993 to 2002
Adjunct Professor of Law, Pace University School of Law, 1991 to 1997
Adjunct Professor of Law, Rutgers University School of Law, 1990 to 1991
Member, Board of Trustees, Supreme Court Library at White Plains, 1990 to 1992, 2005
Executive Director, New York State Bar Association Task Force on Administrative Adjudication, 1987 to 1988
Lecturer, Annual Judicial Seminars, New York State Office of Court Administration, 1986 to 2000
Reporter, New York Pattern Jury Instructions – Civil, 1985 to 1997
Member, New York State Bar Association Committee on Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction, 1983 to 2004, 2008 to 2009
President of the New York State Bar Association, 2004-2005
Interviewed: January 14, 2014
Interview conducted outside the Society’s Oral History Project.
Lawyer Kenneth G. Standard is a prominent lawyer and diversity activist. As a child, civil rights activism was an important part of his family life; his elder sister worked for the national office of the NAACP, and from a young age he heard about and met NAACP lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston. Standard graduated from Harvard University with his A.B. degree, and went on to receive his LL.B. degree from Harvard School of Law in 1962.
In 1967, Standard was hired as an attorney with the Bristol-Myers pharmaceutical company. In 1968, he was promoted to counsel of the products division; by 1970, he had been promoted again to become the division’s vice president. Standard continued his legal education, receiving his LL.M. degree from New York University’s School of Law in 1971. In 1988, he began working at the Consolidated Edison Company (Con Ed) as the assistant general counsel for labor relations. In 1999, Standard joined the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he served as special counsel. From 2004 to 2005, he served as president of the New York State Bar Association, and focused on increasing diversity within the legal field. In 2004, Standard joined the law firm of Epstein, Becker & Green as a member in its National Labor & Employment Practice. During this time, he also developed and chaired the firm’s nationwide diversity committee.
In 2006, the New York State Bar Association created the Kenneth G. Standard Internship program in his honor, which is specifically designed to support law students from a diverse range of backgrounds. In 2011, Standard received the American Bar Association’s Alexander Award for Lifetime Achievement in Pipeline Diversity; and, in 2013, he was elected fellow by the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Standard and his late wife, Valerie Ann Salmon, have a daughter, Alison, and two sons, Devin and Trevor.
Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, 2004-2014
Interviewed: 08/17/2017
Robert Smith’s nomination to the New York State Court of Appeals in November 2003 came as a shock to many court observers, who quickly dubbed him “the stealth candidate.”1 Without any political background, Smith would also become the first non-judge in 20 years to rise directly to New York State’s highest court. When asked to reveal the secret to his own success, he is, characteristically, succinct: “I worked hard and did a good job for my client.”2 This explanation, however, is… CONTINUE READING
Associate Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, 1993-2002
Interviewed: 05/10/2012
An independent thinker, a common sense approach and a devoted family man – these descriptions show three of the most important qualities Judge Levine brought to all of his legal endeavors in the public service, including his tenure on the Court of Appeals. His early experiences as a prosecutor and family court judge – perhaps two of the most influential experiences in a lengthy and distinguished career – clearly served to shape and define his work as an appellate judge… CONTINUE READING
This transcript is subject to additional technical revision.
**Note: These transcripts are subject to further technical revision and biographical citations.
In New York, for well more than a decade, we have taken the view that the court system has a unique role in informing public policy as it relates to the administration of justice. … [T]he courts have become the emergency room for society’s worst ailments — substance abuse, family violence, mental illness, mortgage foreclosures, and so many more — all of which are so much a part of the court dockets we face today. And if we are to fulfill our… CONTINUE READING
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