Hon. John M. Leventhal (Ret.)

Honorable John M. Leventhal was appointed as Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department in 2008. His distinguished career as an appellate and trial judge includes significant experience handling a diverse and robust caseload that included employment, commercial, construction, personal injury, negligence and product liability matters. He has authored numerous appellate decisions that involve complex legal issues in many different areas of the law including employment, commercial/ contract law, business dissolution, medical malpractice and personal injury.

While a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County, he presided over the nation’s first felony Domestic Violence Court. The DV Court was cited for its best practices at the Northeast States Domestic Violence Registry Conference and has been observed by jurists and court administrators from other courts in New York State, and other states and countries. Judge Leventhal also presided over the guardianship part for alleged incapacitated persons where he worked closely with parties and representatives/guardians to settle disputed issues, and when settlement was not possible, conducted numerous trials.

Justice Leventhal is well respected by both sides of the bar. He is known for his ability to thoroughly listen to all sides and then assist with crafting a mutually acceptable resolution. According to the New York Judge Reviews, attorneys who have appeared before Justice Leventhal have praised him for being “a professional, high-caliber judge”; “even-tempered, very fair”; “predictable and reasonable”; “If you know the law, he’ll respect you more for it.”; “His decisions are respected and considered well-reasoned.”

Justice Leventhal has authored or co-authored twenty-four articles relating to criminal and civil law. In 2016, he wrote a book titled, My Partner, My Enemy, about his experiences presiding over the Domestic Violence Court. Judge Leventhal has been featured in a number of newspapers, magazine articles and television and radio programs including a profile in the Public Lives column of the New York Times. He was also in a featured article in the Village Voice, as well as on Brian Williams and Rehema Ellis on MSNBC, Fox and Friends, National Public Radio’s Brian Lehrer Show and Public Television’s MetroFocus.

He is a frequent lecturer on evidence, domestic violence, elder abuse, actual innocence and wrongful convictions, guardianship, foreclosures, junk science versus real science, appellate practice and other legal topics before Bar Associations, law schools, civic groups, court administrators and governmental agencies.

Justice Leventhal has been the recipient of numerous awards for his service in addressing and preventing domestic violence. They include the Special Commendation from the U.S. Department of Justice in recognition for his extraordinary contribution to the prevention of violence against women and for his groundbreaking work and leadership on the role of judicial reviews in the supervision and accountability of domestic violence offenders; he was a recipient of the Ruth Moscowitz Gender Fairness Award presented by the Second Judicial District; he was recognized by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association for his continuous support of and commitment to women in law and society and he received the Fordham University School of Law in The Trenches Award for his work in the Domestic Violence Court.

Additional awards Justice Leventhal has received include the Vincent E. Doyle Award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal System by the New York State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section which honors “outstanding judicial effort to improve the administration of the criminal justice system.”; the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Annual Award “For Outstanding Achievement in the Science of Jurisprudence and Public Service”; the Brooklyn Law School Alumni of the Year Award; the Distinguished Achievement Medal from the New York State Free and Accepted Masons; the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association Beatrice M. Judge Recognition Award for outstanding service to the women of the Bar, to the community and the law; the New York Board of Rabbis and Dayenu, Voices of Valor Elijah Award, for male leadership in ending Domestic Violence; and the National College of District Attorneys Stephen L. Von Riesen Lecturer of Merit Award in recognition of exceptional service in the continuing professional education of all individuals who work on behalf of domestic violence survivors, their families and communities.

Justice Leventhal is available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout the United States.