GOVERNOR SPITZER APPOINTS SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ARIEL BELEN, CHERYL CHAMBERS, RANDALL ENG AND JOHN LEVENTHAL TO SERVE ON THE APPELLATE DIVISION, SECOND DEPARTMENT

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced that he will appoint four Justices of the State Supreme Court – Justice Ariel E. Belen, Justice Cheryl E. Chambers, Justice Randall T. Eng and Justice John M. Leventhal – to fill vacancies in the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.

“These are four of the most distinguished jurists in New York State, who together have more than 60 years of judicial experience,” said Governor Spitzer. “The Appellate Division, Second Department is among the busiest courts in the country, and its decisions affect 10 million residents – more than half the population of the State. I am very pleased to be able to appoint such superb jurists to serve on this important appellate court.”

Justice Belen said: “I know first hand the importance of appellate service, having had the opportunity to handle Appellate Term cases for the past three years, and I therefore am particularly honored to have this opportunity to continue my judicial career on the Second Department. I know that I will be able to serve that court with distinction.”

Justice Chambers said: “I am deeply honored that Governor Spitzer has given me the opportunity to serve on the Appellate Division, Second Department, one of the most important courts in the country. During my 12 years as a trial judge, I have been impressed by the court's consistently high standards of legal scholarship. I very much look forward to joining this distinguished court.”

Justice Eng said: “I have dedicated my entire legal career to public service, including serving as a judge for over 25 years, first on the Criminal Court of the City of New York, and then on the State Supreme Court for the past 20 years. It is with great pleasure that I accept this appointment, knowing that I will now be able to continue my judicial service on the Second Department.”

Justice Leventhal said: “I consider this appointment to be a great honor. I have served in private practice, and in the public sector, but my 14 years as a trial judge have been the most important and rewarding of my career. I welcome the opportunity and challenge of serving on this illustrious appellate bench.”

Justice Ariel E. Belen is the Administrative Judge of the Civil Term of the Supreme Court of Kings County, a position he has held since February 2007. Justice Belen is also an Associate Justice of the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court of the Second and Eleventh Judicial Districts since April 2005. He was elected to the Supreme Court in January 1995, and served on the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court from December 2002 to April 2005. Justice Belen received his Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1978, where he graduated cum laude. He received his J.D. with Specialization in International Legal Affairs degree from Cornell Law School in 1981. From 1981 to 1990, Justice Belen was employed in the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society of New York, where he became a Supervising Attorney. In July 1990, Justice Belen was appointed an Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of New York Law Department. He was promoted in August 1994 to Chief of the Tort Division in the Bronx Borough Office of the City of New York Law Department. He has served as the Vice-Chair of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities since 1998. Justice Belen is also the co-author of a trial practice treatise entitled New York Trial Notebook.

Justice Cheryl E. Chambers was elected to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court in Kings County in 1999, where she has been assigned to both the Civil and Criminal Terms. She presides over complex high profile criminal matters as well as selected personal injury cases. Justice Chambers received her Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1973; she received her J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law in 1976 and an MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management in 1984. From 1985 to 1994, she served in the Kings County District Attorney's Office, where she held positions as Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court and Trial Bureaus, among other positions. From 1995 through 1998, Justice Chambers served in the Civil Court and by designation in the Criminal Court of the City of New York.

Justice Randall T. Eng has been the Administrative Judge in the Criminal Term of the Supreme Court of Queens County since March 2007. Justice Eng received his Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1969. He received his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1972. He began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Queens County District Attorney's Office, from 1973 to 1980. Justice Eng was the Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Correction of the City of New York, from 1980 to 1981, and then became the Department's Inspector General, from 1981 to 1983. He was a Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, from September 1983 to December 1990. He served as Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, from 1988 to 1999. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queens County, from January 1991 to March 2007.

Justice John M. Leventhal was elected to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court in Kings County in 1994. Since 1996, Justice Leventhal has been designated to preside over the nation’s first felony Domestic Violence Court. Justice Leventhal also currently presides over a guardianship part for alleged incapacitated persons. Justice Leventhal received his Bachelor of Arts from Case Western Reserve University in 1970. He received his M.A. from Hunter College in 1974, and he received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1979. From 1980 to 1982, he was a law assistant to the Honorable Louis Rosenthal, Civil Court Judge. Judge Leventhal was in private practice from 1982 until 1994, first as a sole practitioner from September 1982 to August 1989, and afterwards as a partner in the law firm of Rosenthal, Vallario, Leventhal and Coffinas, specializing in criminal and civil litigation and appeals, from August 1989 to December 1994. During this time, he was a part-time counsel to the New York State Assembly from 1991 to 1994.

The Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department is comprised of Kings County, Queens County, Richmond County, Dutchess County, Orange County, Putnam County, Rockland County, Westchester County, Nassau County and Suffolk County. The Governor's designations to the Second Department are not subject to Senate confirmation.

The annual salary for Justices of the Appellate Division is $144,000.

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