Paul George Feinman
''New York Times'' (December 1, 2013). (January 26, 1960 – March 31, 2021) was an American attorney who served as an associate judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

, New York's

highest court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, from June 2017 to March 2021. Feinman spent 20 years as a state judge prior to his elevation to the Court of Appeals, first as a justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the

New York State Unified Court System The Judiciary of New York (officially the New York State Unified Court System) is the judicial branch of the Government of New York, comprising all the courts of the State of New York (excluding extrajudicial administrative courts). The Court of ...

), and the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (the intermediate appellate courts in New York State). He was the first openly gay judge on the appeals court. At the time of his confirmation by State Senate in 2017, he said, "Certainly my entire career has been about promoting equal access and equal justice for all and I hope I add to the diversity of perspectives that the court considers."

Early life and education

Feinman was born to a Jewish family in Merrick, New York and attended John F. Kennedy High School. His father was a small business owner in New York City, his mother a bookkeeper and later a Nassau County Department of Social Services employee. Feinman earned an undergraduate degree in French literature from Columbia University in 1981. He attended the University of Minnesota Law School on a full scholarship.

Legal career

Feinman began his legal career as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

with the Legal Aid Society, working in Nassau County and then in New York City; at the time, the courts had a crowded criminal docket due to the crack epidemic. Feinman then served as

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Justice

Angela Mazzarelli Angela Mazzarelli is an associate justice of the New York Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department. Early life and education She attended the primary and secondary schools of the Southboro, Massachusetts Public School ...

for seven and a half years, from 1989 to 1996, first when Mazzarelli was on the state trial court bench and then when she was on the state Appellate Division. Feinman became involved in the L.G.B.T. Bar Association and in Democratic politics in the Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea and the West Village.

Judicial career

In 1996, he won an election to the New York City Civil Court bench, and at times was an acting

justice. In 2007, Feinman was elected to the Supreme Court; in 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo elevated him to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. Feinman was a member of the Supreme Court Justices Association of the State of New York, serving first as its first vice president and then as its president.Paul G. Feinman (’85) Confirmed to Serve on New York’s Highest Court
University of Minnesota Law School (June 22, 2017). Feinman also served as treasurer of the Citywide Association of Supreme Court Justices in New York, and was president of the International Association of LGBT Judges from 2008 to 2011. In June 2017, Cuomo nominated Feinman to the New York Court of Appeals, the state's

, to the seat left vacant by the death of

Sheila Abdus-Salaam Sheila Abdus-Salaam (; March 14, 1952 – April 12, 2017) was an American lawyer and judge. In 2013, after having served on the New York City Civil Court, the New York Supreme Court, and the Appellate Division, Abdus-Salaam was nominated t ...

. He was unanimously confirmed by the New York Senate the same month. Feinman was the first openly LGBT person to serve on New York's highest court. Feinman was regarded as having a "thoughtful and methodical" judicial approach. Judge

David Saxe David Saxe (born August 29, 1969) is a Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas-born Theatrical producer, show producer and theater owner. He is the owner of both the V Theater and the Saxe Theater. Early life and education Saxe was born on August 29, 196 ...

, who served alongside Feinman on the Appellate Division bench, considers Feinman "a moderate with progressive instincts."

Personal life

Feinman married web publisher Jay Robert Ostergaard in 2013. The couple lived on

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

. Feinman was a Francophile and fan of the New York Mets.

Health and death

Feinman was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2015. He abruptly retired from the Court of Appeals on March 23, 2021, due to health concerns. On March 31, 2021, he died from leukemia at a hospital in Manhattan at the age of 61.

References