Retired Appellate Division Judge Leonard Austin will finally get his due

January 17, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

Hon. Leonard Austin, a retired justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, will receive the Stanley H. Fuld Award during the New York State Bar Association's Annual Meeting this month. Eagle file photo by Mario Belluomo

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Retired Justice Leonard Austin has a long list of accolades from his judicial career, but there has been one he’s been waiting on for some time as he will finally receive the Stanley H. Fuld Award during the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting this month.

Austin is technically the 2022 recipient, but he will receive his award alongside this year’s winner — Hon. P. Kevin Castel — because last year’s meeting took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judge Castel is a senior U.S. District Court Judge who sits in the Southern District of New York. Both Castel and Austin will receive their award on behalf of the NYSBA’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section.

“We are delighted this year to present the Stanley H. Fuld Award to Hon. Leonard B. Austin and Hon. P. Kevin Castel,” said Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Chair Ignatius Grande. “Both of our recipients are well deserving of this honor, and we truly appreciate their contributions to commercial law and jurisprudence over the course of their careers.”

Austin retired from the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department in 2022 after a career on that bench that started with his appointment in 2009. Before he sat in the Appellate Division, Austin was a judge in the Commercial Division of the Nassau County Supreme Court.

The Stanley H. Fuld Award is considered the highest judicial award that the NYSBA gives out. In the past it has been given to distinguished jurists including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, former New York State Chief Judges Jonathan Lippman and Judith S. Kaye and former state Chief Administrative Judge Ann T. Pfau.

This year’s NYSBA Annual Meetings are taking place both in person and virtually. The in-person events will take place at the New York Hilton Midtown from Jan. 18 to Jan. 21. Virtual sessions will take place from Jan. 23 to Jan. 24.