Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor David Paterson named Jonathan Lippman as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

Lippman, 63, currently presiding justice in the appellate division of the First Department of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, will succeed Judith Kaye, who resigned Dec. 31 after reaching mandatory retirement of 70.

The state Commission on Judicial Nomination named Lippman as one of seven candidates for chief judge of the state’s highest court. Under state law, Paterson was required to pick a candidate from that list, though he and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo criticized the commission for not including any women.

“Though I am thrilled to choose Judge Lippman to serve as our next chief judge, I firmly believe that we must revise the process for future judicial nominations to ensure that those under consideration represent all New Yorkers,” Paterson said. “That is why I will propose revising the judicial nomination statute.”

Kaye was the first woman to serve on the Court of Appeals and as chief judge of that court, a job that includes administering the state’s court system. She was named to the court in 1983 and became chief judge 10 years later. She was renominated by former Governor Eliot Spitzer in February 2007.

Administrative Judge

Lippman was a close associate of Kaye’s and served under her as chief administrative judge for 12 years, beginning in 1996. He was responsible for day-to-day operations of the state’s court system with a budget of more than $2 billion, 3,460 state and local judges and nearly 20,000 other employees. He helped establish community courts for low-level offenses, drug courts and domestic violence courts.

Lippman attended New York City public schools and earned his undergraduate degree in 1965 and a law degree in 1968, both from New York University.

Kaye said Lippman was “a wise choice” for what “is going to be a difficult time for the courts.” A weak economy and financial crisis will result in more court cases, at the same time as the court system has fewer resources, she said.

Kaye unsuccessfully sought to increase judges’ pay, which has been unchanged since 1999.

Lippman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net; Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 13, 2009 19:17 EST