Justice Samuel L. Green

Samuel L. Green, Senior Associate Justice, received his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and was admitted to practice on April 3, 1968. He practiced law in Buffalo until his appointment to Buffalo City Court in 1973. In November 1978 he was elected to Supreme Court and was designated an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, on February 25, 1983 by Governor Cuomo. Justice Green has been recommended by the Commission on Judicial Nomination to the New York State Court of Appeals four times. Justice Green was designated by Chief Judge Kaye to sit on the Court of Appeals in June 2002, where he sat and decided cases. He has also served as Acting Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. Justice Green authored General Obligations Law Section 15-108: An Unsettling Law, published in the New York State Bar Journal (Oct 1983), and The Good Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule, published in the New York Law Journal (March 2, 1986). Justice Green is a lifetime member of the NAACP and the Buffalo Urban League, and serves on the governing board of the Albright Knox Art Gallery. He was a member of the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities. In addition, he served on the Governor's Advisory Panel for Project 2000, and was a member of the Committee to Utilize the Services of Retired Judges and the New York State Task Force on Permanency Planning for Children in Foster Care. Justice Green received the 1995 Outstanding Jurist Award from the Erie County Bar Association and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law. He was also given the award of merit for distinguished service on the trial bench by the New York State Trial Lawyer's Association. In 1977, Justice Green received an Honorary Degree of Humane Letters from Canisius College for his outstanding work on the municipal courts.