Michael B. Mukasey

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Michael B. Mukasey (born 1941) is a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mukasey attended Columbia and Yale Law School. He practiced law for twenty years in New York City, serving for four years as an Assistant United States Attorney and later was as as a member of the New York law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.

In 1987, Mukasey was nominated as a federal judge in Manhattan by President Ronald Reagan. He has served in that position for 19 years and was Chief Judge of the Southern District of New York from 2000 to July 2006. During his tenure on the bench, Mukasey has presided over cases including the criminal prosecution of Omar Abdel Rahman and El Sayyid Nosair, as well as some of the proceedings against Jose Padilla. Mukasey also was the judge in the litigation between developer Larry Silverstein and several insurance companies arising from the destruction of the World Trade Center. New York Senator Charles Schumer reportedly once listed Mukasey as a judge who should be considered for promotion to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In June 2006, Mukasey announced that he would retire as a judge and return to private practice at the end of the summer. On August 1, 2006, he was succeeded as Chief Judge of the Southern District by Judge Kimba Wood. Mukasey's retirement took effect on September 9, 2006. On September 12, 2006, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler announced that Mukasey had rejoined the firm as a partner. ^[1]

[edit] References

Joseph Goldstein, "As Judge Leaves for Law Firm, His Influence Is Remembered", New York Sun, July 26, 2006, p. 1 <http://www.nysun.com/article/36714>.