Biography
On November 23, 2022, the State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination reported Justice Jeffrey K. Oing as well qualified, by virtue of his character, temperament, professional aptitude, experience, qualifications and fitness for office, to fulfill the duties of Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and the State of New York.
Justice Oing was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department of the New York State Supreme Court on June 12, 2017. The First Department’s jurisdiction encompasses New York and Bronx Counties, and hears appeals from Supreme Court (civil and criminal), Surrogate’s Court, Family Court, and Court of Claims. The First Department is the court of last resort in the majority of cases because, with few exceptions, appeals to the Court of Appeals, the State’s highest court, are by permission only. Each year, the First Department decides over 3,000 appeals, 6,000 motions, and 1,000 interim applications.
Justice Oing began his judicial career when he was elected to the New York County Civil Court on November 4, 2003. On June 18, 2009, he was appointed Supervising Judge of the New York County Civil Court and was designated an Acting Supreme Court Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. As Supervising Judge, Justice Oing was responsible for the day-to-day Civil Court operations at 111 Centre Street. In addition to his supervisory duties, he presided over jury and nonjury trials, and conferenced and mediated cases. On November 2, 2010, Justice Oing was elected to the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In Supreme Court, Justice Oing was assigned to the Commercial Division where he presided over complex business and financial disputes, such as a contentious dispute involving three retail giants – Macy’s, Martha Stewart and J.C. Penney, and a nonjury trial involving a century old Greco-American educational alliance concerning Athens College, a preeminent, leading educational institution situated in Greece.
Justice Oing has over thirty years of legal and administrative experience, the majority of which has been in public service. In 2002-2003, Justice Oing served as Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, The Council of the City of New York, overseeing litigation and legal matters involving the City Council. During that year, Speaker Gifford Miller appointed him Deputy Director for the New York City Districting Commission, where he was responsible for assisting the Commission in redistricting the City’s fifty-one City Council districts, and for obtaining from the United States Department of Justice preclearance under the Voting Rights Act for these council districts.
Between 1993 and 2002, Justice Oing held various positions in the NYS Supreme Court. From 1993 to 1995, Justice Oing served as Court Attorney in the NYS Supreme Court (New York County). He also served as Law Secretary to Justice Marylin G. Diamond from 1995-1998 and to Justice Walter B. Tolub from 2000-2002. Between 1998 and 2000, Justice Oing was a Principal Appellate Court Attorney in the Appellate Division, First Department. In those positions, he had the opportunity to assist in authoring major decisions on issues ranging from contract law to constitutional law.
Before joining the NYS Supreme Court, Justice Oing spent several years in private practice concentrating on commercial litigation. He also served a brief stint as Assistant Counsel to New Jersey Governor Jim Florio. Prior to entering private practice, Justice Oing began his legal career as judicial law clerk to Chief Justice Robert N. Wilentz of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. During his clerkship, he worked on Abbott v. Burke, a major education funding case in which the Court held that New Jersey’s education funding formula was unconstitutional because it denied poorer urban school districts a “thorough and efficient” education as mandated by the state’s constitution.
Justice Oing serves on the board of directors of the Chinese American Planning Council, Inc., a not-for-profit social service, educational and planning organization serving the City’s Asian communities. Other memberships include New York State Bar Association; New York County Lawyers’ Association; Asian American Bar Association of New York; Jewish Lawyers Guild; and New York Women’s Bar Association.
Justice Oing received his B.A. in English from Columbia College (1986), and his J.D. from New York University School of Law (1989). At NYU, he was a staff editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics.