Leonard B. Austin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leonard B. Austin | |
|---|---|
| Associate Justice, Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, Appointed in 2009, Elected in 2012 | |
| In office 2009–2022 | |
| Appointed by | Governor David A. Paterson |
| Justice, Supreme Court of New York, Elected 1998 | |
| In office 1999–2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Education | Georgetown University (B.A. 1974), Hofstra University School of Law (J.D. 1977) |
| Awards | Stanley B. Fuld Award, 2022 |
Leonard B. Austin is a retired American judge in New York state, who served in both the trial level Supreme Court and in the Supreme Court Appellate Division.
In 1998, Austin was elected as a judge to the Tenth Judicial District of the trial level New York Supreme Court. In 1999, he served in the Dedicated Matrimonial Part in the Suffolk County Supreme Court.[1] In October 2000, he was assigned to the Nassau County Supreme Court's Commercial Division,[2] a specialized business court, where he served until 2009. In 2009, Governor David A. Paterson appointed Austin to be an Associate Justice in New York's intermediate appellate court, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department.[3] He was reelected in 2012. Austin retired from the Appellate Division in 2022.[4][5][6][7]
Austin handled approximately 1,000 cases in the Appellate Division during his tenure. As a Commercial Division judge, "he heard and resolved well over 2,000 cases addressing a wide variety of commercial matters, including corporate (limited liability company and partnership dissolutions; shareholder derivative claims), employment issues (including restrictive covenants), and construction contract claims." As a trial court judge, he decided approximately 500 cases per year, "of which more than nearly 100 were published annually."[5]
Legal practice
Austin was in the private practice of law from 1978 to 1998.[4] After his retirement from the Appellate Division, Austin has provided alternative dispute resolution services, and has been recognized as a top 10 arbitrator in New York Law Journal surveys.[5][8]