Jonathan Lippman

Jonathan Lippman is Of Counsel at Latham & Watkins and is the former Chief Judge of the State of New York and Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. He was appointed by Governor Paterson in January 2009 and confirmed by the New York State Senate in February 2009. Previously he served as the Presiding Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. In that capacity, he served on the Administrative Board of the Courts, the policy and rule-making body of the New York State Court System. From January 1996 to May 2007, he served as the Chief Administrative Judge of all New York State Courts and is the longest tenured person to have served in that capacity. As Chief Judge, he has championed statewide initiatives on access to justice, funding for civil legal services for the poor, human trafficking courts, wrongful convictions, foreclosures, pro bono service, bail, and juvenile justice. He is a member of the Board of the State Justice Institute, previously served on the Boards of the National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Chief Judges, and is a former president of the Conference of State Court Administrators. He has received many awards, including the William H. Rehnquist Award in 2008, each year given by the National Center for State Courts to one state court judge in the country who demonstrates outstanding qualities of judicial excellence. His essay “State Courts: Enabling Access” was published in the summer 2014 issue of Dædalus on “The Invention of Courts.”The Honorable Jonathan Lippman, former Chief Judge of New York and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, is Of Counsel in the New York office of Latham & Watkins LLP and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Department. He provides strategic counsel to clients on New York Law and appellate matters nationwide, and is a leader of the firm’s pro bono practice.

Judge Lippman served as Chief Judge of the State of New York and Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals from February 2009 through December 2015. During his tenure on the Court of Appeals, Chief Judge Lippman authored major decisions addressing constitutional, statutory and common law issues shaping the law of New York, the contours of state government, and the lives of all New Yorkers.