Leslie E. Stein (born 1956) is a former judge on New York State's Court of Appeals. Stein was appointed to the court by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

in late 2014, and was confirmed by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2015.

Early life

The daughter of two law school graduates, Stein grew up in the Capital District of New York.''Albany Law Magazine'', Summer 2015, p. 23. She graduated from

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

, with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

honors. She started law school at the Minnesota Law School, and after her first year, transferred to

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

for her last two years, when she earned her Juris Doctor in 1981, and was ranked second in her class.

Legal career

Stein worked in a paid legal internship during her last year at Albany Law. After law school, Stein first worked as a law clerk at Schenectady County Family Court. She was in private practice for almost 14 years, starting as an associate and later a partner, at the

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

law firm of McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Willams. She re-entered government service as an Albany City court judge in early 1997. Stein served on the Albany Law School board of trustees. In September 2019, Stein was nominated as Director of the

Government Law Center The Government Law Center at Albany Law School is a nonpartisan law and public policy center based in Albany, New York. It produces independent legal research and analysis to help state and local governments better serve their communities. The ...

and started the role full-time in January 2022.

State judicial service

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division

She was elected to the State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District in 2001, and started her service on that trial bench on January 1, 2002. She was appointed, in February 2008, to fill a vacancy as an associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department. ( Eliot Spitzer was the Governor at the time, a month before he resigned.)

New York Court of Appeals

Governor Cuomo nominated Stein to the New York Court of Appeals in late 2014. Judge Victoria A. Graffeo applied to the New York State Commission on Judicial Nominations to be considered for appointment to a second term. The Commission included Graffeo on its list of seven candidates for the position, but Governor Andrew Cuomo declined to reappoint Graffeo and instead selected Justice Stein for the position. Stein's nomination was confirmed by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2015. In November 2020, Stein announced her plans to retire effective June 4, 2021.

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