Congratulations!
Nicholas J. Iacovetta is a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York serving in the County of the Bronx. His judicial career spans 30 years. He was appointed a Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1988. He was reappointed to that position for 3 successive 10 year terms by Mayor Rudolph Guiliani in 1996, by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2006 and by Mayor Bill De Blasio in 2016. In 1994, Robert G. M. Keating, the Administrative Judge of the Criminal Court, designated him to serve in the Supreme Court as an Acting Supreme Court Justice where he has presided over more than 200 felony jury trials. Justice Iacovetta has also served in various specialized parts including Drug Court, the Juvenile Offender Court, Veterans Court, Judicial Diversion & Treatment Court, and Mental Health Treatment Court. In 2018 he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court after his nomination by Governor Andrew Cuomo was confirmed by the New York State Senate.
Justice Iacovetta is a resident of the Bronx where he is a parishioner at St. Benedicts Church. He is a graduate of Cardinal Hayes High School, received his B.A. from Fordham College, and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.
Justice Iacovetta was commissioned a 2d Lt. in the Army R.O.T.C. accelerated program after training at Fort Benning, Georgia during the summer preceding his senior year of college. After graduating law school in May 1973 he graduated from the U.S. Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in December 1973. He received an Honorable Discharge from the Army Reserve in 1978 with the rank of Captain.
In February 1974 he began his 14 year career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of Mario Merola, the District Attorney of Bronx County, where he prosecuted serious felonies including many homicide cases before receiving promotions to the positions of Bureau Chief of the Criminal Court, Bureau Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and finally First Assistant District Attorney before his initial judicial appointment in 1988.
Justice Iacovetta has two daughters, Christine, a doctor of veterinary medicine, Nicole, a pastry chef and personal trainer, and their mother, Lorraine, is a secretary. He is an avid Yankee fan who also enjoys hiking and kayaking. His most memorable trip was a week long adventure with his two daughters camping on the banks of and rafting down the Colorado River to the bottom of the Grand Canyon before ascending the 9 1⁄2 mile Bright Angel Trail to the summit of the Grand Canyon.
Justice Iacovetta has participated in several civic and charitable organizations. His memberships have included serving as an active board member of the Columbian Lawyers Association, First Judicial Department, as a trustee in the Sons of Italy, Uguaglianza, Lodge No. 83, as a member of the American Justinian Society of Jurists, and the Country Club Civic Association. He is also a member of the Bronx County Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association where he has served on several committees and participated as a panel member in CLE programs. He served as an adjunct professor of law at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, as an instructor at the Intensive Trial Advocacy Course at Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School, and participated in the Thurgood Marshall Junior Mock Trial Program. He is the author of several reported judicial decisions in the New York Official Reports and the New York Law Journal. His rewards from professional and community organizations include election in 2013 as a Fellow of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center (ASTAR), and selection as an Italian American Role Model by the Columbus Alliance in 1998.
Justice Iacovetta will be presented with the 2019 Rapallo/Scalia Award at the 54th Annual Rapallo/Scalia Luncheon.
