About NAAG
Eric Schneiderman (D)
New York Attorney General
Elected: 2010
Dept. of Law - The Capitol, 2nd fl., Albany, NY 12224
(518) 474-7330
http://www.ag.ny.gov/
Eric T. Schneiderman was elected the 65th Attorney General of New York State on November 2, 2010. As Attorney General, Schneiderman is the highest ranking law enforcement officer for the State, responsible for representing New York and its residents in legal matters. Schneiderman has established restoring the public’s faith in its public and private sector institutions as key priorities for the Attorney General's office, by focusing on areas including public integrity, economic justice, social justice and environmental protection.
As the state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Schneiderman brings with him a wealth of experience, in both the public and private sectors.
Before being elected Attorney General, Schneiderman served in the New York State Senate as a leading reformer, and was praised by numerous editorial pages and good government organizations as a rare leader in Albany who stood up to leaders of both parties to reform government and get results for New Yorkers. Schneiderman’s many accomplishments as a lawmaker include passing the most sweeping ethics reforms in a generation, passing the toughest enforcement legislation in the nation to target waste, fraud and abuse in government, and reforming the Rockefeller drug laws. In addition to passing a host of environmental and civil rights laws, Schneiderman also took on insurance industry abuses by passing Ian’s Law, groundbreaking legislation that prohibits the egregious practice of dropping health care coverage for sick patients who have been paying for insurance.
Earlier in his career, the Attorney General spent 15 years in private practice as an attorney, and later as a partner at the firm of Kirkpatrick and Lockhart, where he handled complex litigation. Schneiderman was also a public interest lawyer for many years, representing taxpayers in historic lawsuits against the Metropolitan Transit Authority, tenants trying to evict drug dealers from their buildings, and women’s health clinics under attack by anti-choice groups.
Prior to his law career, Attorney General Schneiderman served as a Deputy Sheriff where he started the first comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment program at the local jail, and he clerked for two years in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Schneiderman graduated from Amherst College in 1977 and Harvard Law School in 1982. He is the proud father of a daughter, Catherine.
