Hon. Paul G. Feinman
1960 -
Hon. Paul G. Feinman is the first openly gay judge confirmed to the state’s highest court.
A Nassau County native, Judge Feinman attended Columbia University and the University of Minnesota Law School. He spent several years as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County and in Manhattan before becoming a principal law clerk.
Judge Feinman was first elected as a Civil Court Judge in 1996, and served as an Acting Supreme Court Justice from 2004 to 2007, when he was elected to the Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department in 2012, then nominated to the New York Court of Appeals in 2017.
While in law school, Judge Feinman founded an association of LGBTQ students. He is an active member and former officer of a number of LGBTQ professional organizations, including the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts, the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges, and the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York.