Justice Leo Milonas, ‘a giant of the bench and bar,’ was 87

Justice E. Leo Milonas of Riverdale, who served 27 years in New York’s judiciary, passed away on Jan. 3, 2024. He was 87.

He is remembered by the New York City Bar Association, for whom he served as president 2002-2004, and New York County Lawyers Association as a “giant of the bench and bar in New York for over 60 years.”

“Subsequent to his time on the bench, he went to Winthrop Stimson where he practices for 25 years,” the NYCLA said in a statement. “Even there he was always committed to public service, serving as president of the City Bar as well as the Commission on Judicial Nominations…

“Most importantly, we remember him fondly for his pleasant, professional and friendly demeanor.”

The Bar Association recalled his leadership in the legal profession. It quoted Milonas as saying “litigants who enter our nation’s courts and the lawyers who practice in them deserve the assurance that justice exists for everyone, and a legal profession that is reflective of modern society is a key component of that assurance.”

Born on Oct. 23, 1936, in New York City, Milonas was the son of a Greek immigrant who operated a restaurant in Harlem. The E. is for Elias, a name he never uses and once called “a little sophisticated for the kids I hung around with” as a boy. He graduated from City College of New York in 1957 and received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1960.

Justice Milonas is survived by his wife Helen, a psychiatric social worker. They are the parents of two grown children.

He spent 12 years practicing law before New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed him to the Criminal Court bench in December 1972. Nine months after he assumed the bench he became the supervising judge of the Bronx County Criminal Court. In October 1974 he became supervising judge of the Manhattan Criminal Court, and in January 1976 he was made an acting state Supreme Court justice. In 1978 he was elected Supreme Court justice.

Judge Milonas was named deputy chief administrative judge of New York City courts in 1979. His tenure was marked by heated exchanges with Mayor Ed Koch as well as a disagreement with Chief Judge Lawrence Cooke over a plan to reassign lower-court judges temporarily to sit in state Supreme Court on a rotational basis.

“Judges are about the least effective people in the world at defending themselves,” Milonas was quoted as saying. “Part of this job requires that you occasionally take a position that brings you into controversy.”

After two years as administrator, he was named by Governor Hugh Carey to the Appellate Division, First Department, in 1982.

Several times, Justice Milonas had been among those nominated by the Commission on Judicial Nomination to fill vacancies on the New York State Court of Appeals, but he was passed over each time by Gov. Mario Cuomo — including 1985 and 1993, when he was on the “short list” of seven vying for chief judge. However, in May of 1993, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye finally named him chief administrative judge, her “right-hand person” in managing the state court system.

In the 2-1/2 years he spent as Chief Administrative Judge, Judge Milonas was at the forefront of Chief Judge Kaye’s jury reform efforts. He also played a major role in improving court facilities, bringing computer technology into the courthouses; establishing new rules governing the conduct of lawyers; and creating the Commercial Divisions of the Supreme Court. He stepped down at the end of 1995 and returned to the appellate bench.

Justice Milonas remained at the Appellate Division until 1998 and the following year joined the firm of Pillsbury Winthrop as partner, specializing in litigation, complex commercial litigation, appeals and alternative dispute resolution.

In 2003, Judge Milonas joined the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts.

“Having spent my life in different roles in the practice of law and in the judiciary, I bring a view from the inside of all of them to my new role,” he said in his inaugural address at the City Bar. “So I stand here as a representative of many segments of our profession, interested in the welfare of each of them, and therefore the welfare of the whole.”

Two years later, in his farewell address, he said that one lesson he learned as president “is that much of our work is very much like the practice of law” in that “it is responsive, and dictated by events outside of our control.”

Judge Milonas did find time to address his other priorities. He was a vocal advocate of merit appointment to the judiciary, but also a realist in calling for reform within the current elective system: “For the process to have any credibility, the screening committees must be made more independent, must be allowed to recommend a limited number of candidates for each judicial vacancy, and the political leaders must pledge to only select candidates from those approved,” he said. 

During Judge Milonas’s tenure, the City Bar took the lead in the effort to allow same-sex marriage in New York, issuing reports and testimony well before the cause gained momentum.