Paul Feinman

Paul George Feinman (January 26, 1960 – March 31, 2021) was an American attorney who served as an associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, from June 2017 to March 2021.

Feinman spent 20 years as a state judge prior to his elevation to the Court of Appeals, first as a justice of the New York Supreme Court (the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System), and the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (the intermediate appellate courts in New York State).

He was the first openly gay judge on the appeals court. At the time of his confirmation by State Senate in 2017, he said, "Certainly my entire career has been about promoting equal access and equal justice for all and I hope I add to the diversity of perspectives that the court considers."

Early life and education Feinman was born to a Jewish family in Merrick, New York and attended John F. Kennedy High School. His father was a small business owner in New York City, his mother a bookkeeper and later a Nassau County Department of Social Services employee.

Feinman earned an undergraduate degree in French literature from Columbia University in 1981. He attended the University of Minnesota Law School on a full scholarship. Feinman also served as treasurer of the Citywide Association of Supreme Court Justices in New York, He was unanimously confirmed by the New York Senate the same month. Feinman was the first openly LGBT person to serve on New York's highest court.

Feinman was regarded as having a "thoughtful and methodical" judicial approach. Judge David Saxe, who served alongside Feinman on the Appellate Division bench, considers Feinman "a moderate with progressive instincts." On March 31, 2021, he died from leukemia at a hospital in Manhattan at the age of 61.