Biography of Justice Henry J. Nowak

Justice Henry NowakJustice Henry J. Nowak was elected to the New York State Supreme Court in November 2010. Since 2011, he has handled a wide variety of civil cases. In 2016, he was assigned to the Commercial Division of the Eighth Judicial District.

Justice Nowak also served as a Buffalo City Court Judge from 2003 through 2010. During that time, he was assigned to Buffalo Housing Court, which presided over all housing violations and evictions in the City of Buffalo. He worked to convert the housing part into a true problem-solving forum to remedy housing conditions in the City of Buffalo. As a result of his efforts, he was named Public Servant of the Year in 2006 by the Local Initiative Support Corporation, and an Outstanding Citizen of 2010 by The Buffalo News.

Justice Nowak graduated from SUNY at Buffalo Law School in 1993, where he served as the Publications Editor of the Buffalo Law Review. After law school, he worked as a trial attorney at Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, LLP and Connors & Vilardo, LLP.

For several years during his judicial service, Justice Nowak taught a constitutional law seminar at the SUNY at Buffalo Honors College. Also, he has been a regular instructor on a variety of issues at the New York State Judicial Institute. Justice Nowak has won a number of awards throughout his tenure, including the Pro Bono Award from the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer’s Project, both the Distinguished Leadership Award and Distinguished Service Award from the Advocates Club of WNY, and the Pewter Plate Award from the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier. Furthermore, Justice Nowak contributed a chapter in the New York State Residential Landlord-Tenant Law and Procedure.