New York State Court of Appeals Associate Judge Anthony Cannataro ’96, former Acting Chief Judge and NYLS alumnus, Will Teach State Constitutional Law
New York, NY (April 2, 2024) – The Hon. Anthony Cannataro ’96, currently an Associate Judge on the New York State Court of Appeals and former Acting Chief Judge, has been appointed a Distinguished Adjunct Professor at New York Law School.
Judge Cannataro made history in New York as New York State’s first openly LGBTQ+ Acting Chief Judge, and first in the nation’s 50 states. Serving on the State’s highest Court since 2021, and a 1996 graduate of the Law School, he will co-teach a course on State and Local Government, focusing on state constitutional law, and have an affiliation with the Center for New York City Law. Through Judge Cannataro’s teaching and mentorship, NYLS students will have an extraordinary and rare opportunity to be taught by one of the State’s preeminent jurists and State law experts. His appointment underscores the School’s commitment to providing students with unparalleled opportunities to learn from leaders in the profession, especially in government and the judiciary. “Judge Cannataro is a brilliant legal mind, a fiercely dedicated public servant, and an exceptional institutional leader. He represents the very best of our State and our NYLS community,” said Anthony W. Crowell, Dean and President, and Professor of Law. “We are grateful that he will lend his unmatched expertise, experience, and wisdom to help educate the next generation of lawyers. As the law school graduating the highest number of lawyers in the State into public service positions, providing our students with an in-depth knowledge of New York State law is essential, and there is no one better to prepare them than Judge Cannataro. Indeed, it is a great honor for me to join him in the classroom.”
“I am honored by the opportunity to strengthen my ties with New York Law School as an adjunct member of faculty and am incredibly excited at the prospect of not only teaching, but learning from, the newest members of our legal profession,” said Associate Judge Anthony Cannataro ’96. “I believe it is a solemn obligation of attorneys, and judges like myself, to pass on the lessons learned and wisdom gained from a career in the law to the next generation of lawyers so that our profession can continue to grow to meet the ever-evolving needs of our society. I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career and am truly grateful for the support of Dean Crowell and the entire New York Law School community.”
Judge Cannataro’s appointment further reflects NYLS’s best-in-class offerings dedicated to New York City and State law, with an unmatched set of courses, academic centers, and faculty. Recent efforts include new appointments and transformative programming at the Center for New York City Law, and the recent launching of the Law and Leadership Institute, to best serve the changing needs of New York’s civic and legal communities. Judge Cannataro’s appointment also comes at a critical time where United States Supreme Court decisions have reverted more responsibility and lawmaking to the States, making it even more paramount for new lawyers to understand the intricacies of State law.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo nominated Judge Cannataro to the Court of Appeals on May 25, 2021, and the New York State Senate confirmed his appointment on June 8, 2021.
A career public servant, Judge Cannataro began his legal career in 1996 as an Assistant Corporation Counsel with the New York City Law Department. From 2000-2003, he served as Law Clerk to Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. He then served as Law Clerk to Hon. Lottie E. Wilkins in Supreme Court, New York County from 2003–2011. In 2011, he was elected Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York, receiving assignments to the Kings County Family Court and the Bronx County Civil Court, until his appointment in 2016 as Supervising Judge of the New York County Civil Court. In 2017, he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court for the First Judicial District. Upon taking office as a Supreme Court Justice in January 2018, he was concurrently appointed Citywide Administrative Judge for the New York City Civil Court.
Judge Cannataro received his B.A. cum laude from Columbia University in 1993 and his J.D. cum laude from New York Law School in 1996. He served as Acting Chief Judge from 2022–2023.