Judge Block was appointed United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York on September 29, 1994, and entered on duty on October 31, 1994. He assumed senior status on September 1, 2005. Judge Block received a Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana University in 1956, and an LL.B. Degree from Cornell Law School in 1959. Following graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk for the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Third Judicial Department, in Albany, New York. Judge Block was an associate with a small law firm on Long Island from 1961-1962, after which he established his own general practice in Port Jefferson, New York, in 1962. For some 10 years prior to his appointment, he was a partner in the law firm of Block, Amelkin & Hamburger, in Smithtown, New York. His practice encompassed civil and criminal trial and appellate litigation on both the state and federal levels. During his 17 year tenure on the bench, Judge Block has presided over a number of high profile criminal trials, including, most recently, a securities fraud prosecution against former Bears Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin. He also oversaw the trials of Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, Peter Gotti, Lemrick Nelson and nightclub magnate Peter Gatien. Judge Block has published articles on a variety of legal topics, including Tales of an “Active” Senior Judge, ABA Litigation Journal, Spring 2011; Reflections on Guns and Jury Nullification – And Judicial Nullification, The Champion, July 2009; Senior Status: An “Active” Senior Judge Corrects Some Common Misunderstandings, 92 Cornell L. Rev. 533 (2007); and Civil Liberties during National Emergencies: The Interactions between the Three Branches of Government in Coping with Past and Current Threats to the Nation’s Security, 29 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 459 (2005). In 2007, he penned a New York Times op ed addressing the financial burdens of death penalty prosecutions. He is also a contributing author for the New York State Bar Association’s textbook Federal Civil Practice. Judge Block was Vice President of the New York State Bar Association from 1983 to 1986, and President of the Suffolk County Bar Association from 1979 to 1980. He is currently a member of the Federal Judges Association, American Judges Association, American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and Suffolk County Bar Association, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the New York State Bar Foundation. He is the only two time recipient of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s President’s Award for outstanding service to the Association.
