Leonard B. Sand - Professional

Professional

After law school, Judge Sand served as a law clerk to Judge Irving R. Kaufman, then on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1953, Sand was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, serving in the Criminal Division, which was followed by two years in private practice with the firm of Rosenman, Goldmark, Colin & Kaye (later renamed Rosenman & Colin, LLP). From 1956 to 1959, he served as an assistant to the United States Solicitor General in Washington, during which he argued 13 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sand then reentered private practice in New York, eventually becoming a named partner of the firm then known as Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn, Sand & Berman (renamed Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn, and Berman after Sand's appointment to the bench). While in private practice, he successfully argued WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo, 377 U.S. 633 (1964), before the Supreme Court of the United States, a redistricting case decided in tandem with Reynolds v. Sims. The Court had set aside a week to hear nothing but reapportionment cases, and Sand was the first litigator to argue that week. He recalled being bombarded with questions from the justices. He was elected as a Delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1967.

Nominated to the court by Jimmy Carter on April 7, 1978, to a seat vacated by Charles M. Metzner, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 17, 1978, and received his commission on May 19, 1978. He assumed senior status on July 1, 1993, but continues to hear every type of case and to carry a near-full caseload. Sand has sat by designation on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Sand also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, where he teaches, along with Judge John G. Koetl, a seminar on Constitutional Litigation.

Sand was awarded the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence by the Federal Bar Council in 1992 and the Edward Weinfeld Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Administration of Justice from the New York County Lawyers’ Association in 1993. He is also the recipient of the American Arbitration Association’s Whitney North Seymour, Sr. Medal and is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Sand's former law clerks include law professor Ann Althouse, Columbia University's General Counsel Jane E. Booth, the Hearst Corporation's Senior Vice President and General Counsel Eve Burton, Massachusetts Appeals Court Associate Justice Gary S. Katzmann, Microsoft's Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property Strategy Tom Rubin, Ernst & Young's Americas Vice Chair and General Counsel Michael S. Solender, and former interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Alan Vinegrad.