Drawing upon four decades of experience in the New York State Court system, The Honorable Jonathan Lippman provides strategic counsel to clients on New York Law and appellate matters nationwide. Chief Judge Lippman is Of Counsel in the New York office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Department.

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman joined Latham & Watkins’ New York office after retiring as the Chief Judge of New York and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. Chief Judge Lippman advises clients on New York law and appellate matters nationwide and is a leader of the firm’s pro bono practice, with a particular concentration on matters involving issues of access to justice.

Chief Judge Lippman has served at all levels of the New York State Court system throughout his career, including as staff attorney, administrator and judge. His administrative service includes six years as Chief Clerk and Executive Officer of the New York Supreme Court for New York County (Civil Term) and six years as the Deputy Chief Administrator for Management of the New York State Courts, during which time he was responsible for managing and overseeing the day-to-day operation of the statewide court system.

Chief Judge Lippman was appointed by Governor Pataki as Judge of the New York Court of Claims in 1995, and served by appointment from 1996 to 2007 as Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts, the longest tenure of anyone to have held this position. He was elected to New York’s Supreme Court in 2005, and in 2007 Governor Spitzer appointed Chief Judge Lippman as Presiding Justice of the New York Appellate Division, First Department. He was appointed by Governor Paterson as Chief Judge of New York two years later, serving until 2015.

Throughout his career in the New York State Courts, Chief Judge Lippman authored major decisions addressing constitutional, statutory and common law issues shaping the law of New York, the contours of state government and the lives of all state citizens. He has been centrally involved in many significant reforms of the judiciary and legal profession, and has taken an active leadership role in identifying permanent funding for civil legal services. Chief Judge Lippman speaks and writes frequently on matters related to court and legal reform and social justice issues.