Michael A Cardozo

Early life and education

Michael A. Cardozo was born on June 28, 1941 in New York City to Lucile and Harmon Cardozo. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 from Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island, and his Juris Doctorate degree in 1966 from Columbia Law School, located in New York City. After graduation, Cardozo served as a law clerk to Judge Edward C. McLean in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

He married the former Nancy Caryn Cogut in Roslyn, New York on June 20, 1965. They have two children: Hedy (born November 9, 1967 who is married to Michael N. Rosenblut) and Sheryl (born December 25, 1970 who is married to Adi Diner). They have three grandchildren: Twins Lucy and Joshua Rosenblut, born May 26, 2004, and Elliotte (Ellie) Isla Cardozo, born July 19, 2016.

Career

In 1967, he joined the law firm of Proskauer Rose 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. While at Proskauer Cardozo was co-head of its Sports Law Practice and represented, among other clients, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. Cardozo was elected three times to the firm's executive committee, and co-chaired its litigation department from 1987 to 1991.

In January 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him the City's 77th Corporation Counsel, the City's chief legal officer. In that capacity he served as head of the City's 700 lawyer Law Department and as legal counsel to Mayor Bloomberg, elected officials, the City and all its agencies. He held that role for 12 years for the full 3-term tenure of the Mayor, the longest anyone has served in that capacity since the Office was created in the mid-19th century. During Cardozo's tenure the City's payout of settlement and judgments declined by 14 percent. Cardozo advised on scores of significant litigations, handling some of them himself. Under his direction, the Law Department brought successful suits concerning the illegal use of guns and the improper sale of cigarettes, and defended a major class action discrimination suit against the Fire Department, numerous challenges to the health care initiatives of Mayor Bloomberg, and steps taken in connection with the Occupy Wall Street and Republican National Convention demonstrations. Among the cases Cardozo personally successfully argued was a real estate tax dispute with the government of India in the U.S. Supreme Court, and a $2.5 billion bond case in the New York Court of Appeals.

In 2014 Cardozo returned to Proskauer where he is a senior litigation partner handling commercial litigations of all types and a suit against New York City.

Civic involvement

Long active in civic affairs Cardozo served as president of the New York City Bar Association from 1996 to 1998. He also previously 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 two court-system task forces appointed by New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Sol Wachtler.

Among the honors Cardozo has received are: the American Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award, the Citizens Union Public Service Award, the New York Urban League Frederick Douglas Medallion for Leadership and Service, the Federal Bar Council’s Emory Buckner Award for Outstanding Public Service, the Columbia Law School Lawrence Wien Prize for Social Responsibility, the Fund for Modern Courts' Cyrus R. Vance Tribute for Dedicated Work Towards Judicial Reform, the George A. Katz Torch of Learning Award from American Friends of Hebrew University; the New York Law Journal’s Impact Award and The Fund for Modern Courts Career Public Service Award.