senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
serving on the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...
, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
.
Education and career
Korman is the son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Poland. Born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, Korman earned a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
in 1966, a
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty.
...
in 1966, and a
Master of Laws
A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject.
In many jurisdi ...
from
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City.
Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
in 1971. From 1966 to 1968, he served as
law clerk
A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...
to Judge Kenneth B. Keating of the
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...
. Korman was an Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison in New York City from 1968 to 1970. In 1970, Korman became an
assistant United States attorney
An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...
in the Eastern District of New York, where he served until 1972.
From 1972 to 1974, Korman was an assistant to the
Solicitor General of the United States
The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...
. He then returned to the United States Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York, where he served as Chief Assistant United States Attorney from 1974 to 1978, and as United States Attorney from 1978 to 1982. During this period, he investigated
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
for a questionable real estate transaction; though charges were never brought, Korman's investigation was framed as a significant turning point in Trump's relationship with the authorities during subsequent criminal investigations in 2022 and 2023. From 1982 to 1985, Korman worked as partner and of counsel at the firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York City. During the school year dating 1984 to 1985, Korman taught as a professor at
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty.
...
. Starting in 1983 and continuing until Korman's appointment to the bench, he was a member of the Temporary Commission of Investigation of the State of New York and Chairman of the Mayor's Committee on New York City Marshals. Korman is married and has two children.
Federal judicial service
Korman was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
on October 2, 1985, to the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...
, to a new seat authorized by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
on November 1, 1985, and received commission on November 4, 1985, entering service on December 16, 1985. He served as chief judge from 2000 to 2007. He assumed senior status on October 25, 2007. In addition to continuing his caseload in Brooklyn, Korman has also sat
by designation
A visiting judge is a judge appointed to hear a case as a member of a court to which he or she does not ordinarily belong. In United States federal courts, this is referred to as an assignment "by designation" of the Chief Justice of the United ...
on the Second, Sixth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals from 2008 to present.
Korman has been described as "an intellectual judge, even a brilliant judge," with "a reputation as one of the nicest judges around," known for an understanding attitude toward defendants.
Selected publications and awards
In 2005, Korman wrote the foreword to the book ''The Lie That Wouldn't Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'' by Haddassa Ben-Itto. He wrote an essay in 2006 titled "Rewriting the Holocaust History of the Swiss Banks: A Growing Scandal," which was published in ''Holocaust Restitution: Perspectives on the Litigation and its Legacy,'' edited by Michael Bazyler and Roger P. Alford. Korman also co-authored a biographical essay on Judge Kenneth B. Keating of the New York Court of Appeals, published in ''The Judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a Biographical History,'' edited by Albert M. Rosenthal.
Judge Korman has received numerous awards, some of which include:
* Award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal Justice System, New York State Bar Association, 1996;
* Edward Weinfeld Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Administration of Justice, New York County Lawyers Association, 2002;
* Honorary Doctor of Laws, Brooklyn Law School, 2003;
* Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence, Federal Bar Council, 2006;
* Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for Invaluable Contribution to the American Legal System, Brooklyn College, 2014.
Selected decisions
1989: Korman ordered the extradition of Mahmoud Abed Atta (a member of the Abu Nidal Organization) to Israel to stand trial for a terrorist bombing that occurred on a bus traveling between the West Bank and Tel Aviv.
1992: Highlighting the defendant's lack of remorse, Korman sentenced a prominent corporate attorney, Harvey D. Myerson, to the severe sentence of 70 months in prison for committing over $2 million in tax fraud and fraud related to overbilling clients. The court of appeals affirmed.
1994: Korman sentenced a teenager to life in prison without parole following his conviction for killing a journalist in exchange for pay from a Colombian drug cartel angered by the journalist's publications.
1996: In a case involving a journalist murdered following the journalist's anti-drug cartel writings, Korman leniently sentenced two defendants convicted of murder conspiracy to 15 and 18 years, respectively. Korman cited the assistance that the defendants provided to the prosecution and the need to balance punishment with incentives for cooperation.
1996: Korman held that the Republican Party's primary system had an unconstitutional "chilling effect" on certain viable candidates. He wrote, "only the most atypical of candidates, ones with unlimited financial resources" had a chance of their names appearing on the ballot. The court of appeals affirmed Korman's ruling. The decision became the subject of various academic publications, including an article in the Georgetown Law Journal.
Nathaniel Persily
Nathaniel Persily is the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he has taught since 2013. He is a scholar of constitutional law, election law, and the democratic process.yfair." Senator Alfonse D'Amato praised Korman's efforts as "Solomonlike" and "extraordinary." In later years, however, academic
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist and activist. His primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Finkelstein was born in New York Cit ...
chastises Korman's approach as one that erroneously accepted inflated evidence regarding the value of retained assets of Holocaust victims, contributing to systematic "blackmail" of the Swiss banks through forcing them to pay incorrectly large monetary sums to settle the lawsuit.
2000: Korman found that the Republican presidential nomination scheme was unconstitutional as "pos ngan undue burden in its totality on the right to vote." The New York Times stated that Korman's ruling "gave Republicans in the state something Republicans take for granted elsewhere . . . the opportunity to choose from a full slate of candidates." The decision was the subject of numerous academic publications, including an article in the Georgetown Law Journal.
2005: Korman presided over the trial of the 2003 money laundering case of record label executive
Irv Gotti
Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...
and Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.
2007: Following the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Korman refused to allow New York City to cap its liability, holding that an obscure maritime law did not apply because the city's managers had been negligent in disobeying a city rule requiring that two captains remain in the pilot house while the ferry was in motion.
See also
*
List of Jewish American jurists
This is a list of notable Jewish American jurists. For other famous Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.
Supreme Court of the United States
United States courts of appeals
United States district courts
* Ronnie Abrams, J ...