Michael A. Cardozo (June 28, 1941 – June 23, 2025) was an American lawyer. From 2002 through the end of 2013, he was the

Corporation Counsel The corporation counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer who handles civil claims against the city in some U.S. municipal and county jurisdictions, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corp ...

for the

Government of New York City The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the ...

, appointed by Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

. Cardozo was a partner at the law firm

Proskauer Rose Proskauer Rose LLP (formerly known as Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, LLP) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. Proskauer was founded in 1875 and currently employs more than 800 attorneys in eleven offices worldwide. ...

, and a former president of the

New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

Early life and education

Michael A. Cardozo was born on June 28, 1941 in New York City to homemaker Lucile and real estate broker Harmon Cardozo. He grew up in the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

of New York City, before moving to

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

while in grade school. He received a Bachelor of Arts in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1963 from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1966 from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

. He clerked for Judge Edward Cochrane McLean from 1966 to 1967.

Career

In 1967, Cardozo joined the law firm of

and became a member of the Litigation Department. He became a partner in 1974 and served in that capacity until 2002, when he was appointed Corporation Counsel of New York City. While at Proskauer, Cardozo helped to develop the firm's

sports law Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

practice and represented, among other clients, the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. Cardozo was elected three times to the firm's executive committee and co-chaired its litigation department from 1987 to 1991. In 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him the City's 77th Corporation Counsel, the City's chief legal officer. He held that role for 12 years, for the full three-term tenure of the Mayor, the longest anyone has served in that capacity since the Office was created in the mid-19th century. Under Cardozo, the city vigorously defended stop-and-frisk practices. He also worked to address illegal guns, and on initiatives to ban smoking and require calorie information to be posted in restaurants. In 2009, 18 of 20 judges from the First Judicial Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court signed a letter rebuking Cardozo for his "imperious" criticisms of the court's culture, which he had said was introducing delays. From 1996 to 1998, Cardozo was president of the

. In 2014, Cardozo was succeeded by Zachary W. Carter. That year, he returned to Proskauer. In 2019, he successfully represented

Judith Alice Clark Judith Alice Clark (born November 9, 1949), known as Judy Clark, is an American far-left radical activist, formerly a member of the Weather Underground and the May 19th Communist Organization (M19). Her mother was the researcher Ruth Clark. In ...

, the getaway driver in the 1981 Brink's robbery, in seeking parole after having served 39 years in prison. Cardozo retired from Proskauer at the end of October 2022. In September 2022, New York Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...

appointed Cardozo to the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. He was re-appointed in 2024. Cardozo was a longtime member of the board of the

Citizens Union Citizens Union is a New York City-based good government group founded in 1897 to combat the influences of the Tammany Hall political machine. J. Pierpont Morgan, Benjamin Altman, Elihu Root, and Carl Schurz numbered among its 165 founders. In 1 ...

government reform organization. He was a member of the advisory board of the legal education non-profit Legal Outreach. He also served as Chair of the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors, and the Fund for Modern Courts, a non-partisan citizen organization devoted to improving New York State courts. He also previously chaired the New York State Commission on Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation. He chaired two court-system task forces appointed by New York Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals

Sol Wachtler Solomon "Sol" Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992. Wachtler's most famous quote, made shortly after his appointment as Chief Judge, ...

Awards

* American Friends of the Hebrew University's George A. Katz Torch of Learning Award, 2000 *

Lawrence Wien Prize for Social Responsibility, 2007 * Fund for Modern Courts Cyrus R. Vance Tribute, 2009 *

Federal Bar Council The Federal Bar Council is a not-for-profit specialty bar association whose membership consists of lawyers and judges who practice primarily in federal courts within the Second Circuit. The Second Circuit covers the following districts: District ...

Emory Buckner Award for Outstanding Public Service, 2011 * '' New York Law Journal's'' Impact Award, 2013 *

Public Service Award, 2014 * Fund for Modern Courts Career Public Service Award, 2014 * ''American Lawyer'' Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015 * New York Urban League Frederick Douglas Medallion for Leadership and Service, 2016 * Anti-Defamation League Human Relations Award, 2017

Personal life

Cardozo married Nancy Caryn Cardozo () in 1965. They had two children. Cardozo split his time between New York City and Scarsdale, New York. Cardozo's great grandfather's first cousin was

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Justice

Benjamin Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his deat ...

. Cardozo died on June 23, 2025, after a brief illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardozo, Michael A. 1941 births 2025 deaths Brown University alumni Columbia Law School alumni Government lawyers Lawyers from New York City Lawyers from Scarsdale, New York New York City public officials People from Westport, Connecticut Place of birth missing Presidents of the New York City Bar Association Proskauer Rose partners