Brooklyn Bar Association President congratulates acting Chief Judge Cannataro

Governor Kathy Hochul still has not picked a replacement for Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who announced her retirement earlier this year, however, Hon. Anthony Cannataro will serve as acting chief judge until the official replacement has been named.

Chief Judge DiFiore officially stepped down from her role on August 31, and the New York Court of Appeals announced that Justice Cannataro would be designated as acting chief judge beginning on September 1.

Acting Chief Judge Cannataro joined the Court of Appeals on June 8, 2021 and will serve as acting chief judge in an interim capacity until Hochul nominates a replacement and that person is confirmed by the NYS Senate.

The chief judge does have an impact on Brooklyn cases through the appeals process. Our State Supreme Court here in Brooklyn appeals cases to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which appeals cases to the Court of Appeals. So how Cannataro and his fellow Court of Appeals judges rule affects Appellate Division cases which in turn plays out in our local courtrooms.

Richard Klass, president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, thinks Acting Chief Judge Cannataro will have a positive impact through his leadership.

“As President of the Brooklyn Bar Association, I would like to congratulate Judge Anthony Cannataro upon his designation as Acting Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals,” Klass said. “Previously, Chief Judge Cannataro served as the Citywide Administrative Judge of the New York City Civil Court; in that capacity, he was in charge of civil matters affecting the legal rights of Brooklyn residents pending in the Civil Court, Kings County.

“The Brooklyn Bar Association recognizes Chief Judge Cannataro’s involvement in various committees advancing diversity and inclusion, including the Commission on Access to Justice and the LGBT Commission,” Klass continued. “We wish him great success in this important endeavor.”

A New York Law School graduate, Acting Chief Judge Cannataro first became a judge in 2011 when he was elected to the Civil Court and served in the Family Court working on custody and visitation cases here in Brooklyn from 2012 through 2013. In 2014, he became a Civil Court judge in the Bronx, and in 2016 he was appointed Supervising Judge of the New York County Civil Court.

The acting chief was elected to the Supreme Court, New York County in 2017, and was appointed as the Administrative Judge for the New York City Civil Court in 2018.

Prior to becoming a judge, he served as a law clerk for Hon. Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, a former associate justice of the New York Court of Appeals. He also clerked for Hon. Lottie E. Wilkins and served as an assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Manhattan Trial Unit.

Acting Chief Judge Cannataro attends many local bar association events and is co-chair of the High-Volume Courts Subcommittee of the Chief Judge’s ADR Advisory Committee, a member of the Plain Language Committee of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, is co-chair of the Richard C. Failla LGBT Commission of the NYS Courts.

Lunch with Judge Robert Miller

Members of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association will be getting an opportunity to get to know one of the new acting chief judge’s colleagues when they sit down for “Lunch with a Judge” with Hon. Robert Miller.

Justice Miller is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center who worked in private practice before he was elected to the Kings County Supreme Court in November of 2007. He was then appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department by then-Gov. David Patterson in December of 2010.

The event will be on Tuesday, September 13 at 1:00 p.m. and is part of the BWBA’s regular series that is designed to help members get to know local judges. Justice Miller will sit down during lunch with the BWBA attorneys, discuss his life and career and explain his courtroom. Members will have the opportunity to ask the judge questions about the same.

The BWBA will also host a Paint-and-Sip event at Fornino Pizzeria on Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Tuesday, September 20 at 5:30 p.m. The BWBA has held two similar events in the past that were a great success so RSVP is required (go to their website www.BrooklynWomensBar.org), the cost is $45.

Robert Abruzzese is the former Legal Editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Director of Member Services at the Brooklyn Bar Association. In addition to writing this column, he currently attends Touro Law Center and is a Legal Administrative Assistant at the Cavallo Firm, PLLC. You can reach him via email at [email protected].