Chief Judge of the State of New York, Jonathan Lippman, to Deliver Cardozo 2012 Commencement Address Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the State of New York and Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, will deliver the commencement address at YU's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s 34th Commencement Ceremony on June 4, 2012 at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. As Chief Judge of the State of New York, Lippman has implemented a wide number of changes that have increased access to justice for all New Yorkers. “Chief Judge Lippman is a superb judicial leader,” said Cardozo Dean Matthew Diller. “He is a champion of the cause of justice in the tradition of Benjamin N. Cardozo.” Lippman has called for a philosophical shift in the traditional role of judges and courts, saying it is the moral obligation of the judiciary to “speak out and take bold steps on behalf of New Yorkers, particularly those struggling to access the essentials of life­­.” Judge Lippman’s career in the court system spans four decades. Prior to becoming Chief Judge, he served as the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department; Chief Administrative Judge of all New York State Courts; Justice of the Supreme Court for the Ninth Judicial District; and Associate Justice of the Appellate Term, Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts. He started his career as an entry-level court attorney and served as a law clerk in Supreme Court and Surrogate’s Court, and as Principal Court Attorney for the Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Term. He was named Chief Clerk and Executive Officer of that court in 1983. Judge Lippman was then appointed Deputy Chief Administrator for Management of the statewide court system in 1989. In 1995, he was appointed by Governor Pataki as a Judge of the New York Court of Claims and was subsequently reappointed to a full nine-year term on that court in 1998. “At this year’s commencement we will be honoring the Innocence Project’s 20 years of service to those who are underserved by the legal community,” said Diller. “I think it is fitting with the mission of the Innocence Project and so many of our other programs that Judge Jonathan Lippman will be delivering the address. Judge Lippman has made it his priority to increase access to our judicial system and to remove many of the hurdles to justice that many New Yorkers are forced to navigate every day.” A native of Manhattan, Judge Lippman received his B.A. in 1965 from New York University, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1968. He and his wife Amy live in New York and they have two children, Russell and Lindsay. Visit the Commencement Schedules Page for dates, times, locations and directions to ceremonies for all Yeshiva University schools and affiliates.