Lawyers in county attorney's office remember Carney

Joseph Carney labored in cluttered isolation in the Nassau County attorney's office for 37 years, preparing the county's defense in cases big and small.

He emerged to coach and mentor newcomers to the office. A bachelor at 62, he left at the end of the day to enter a world of computers, books, plays, movies and an endless assortment of pastimes that amused his intellect.

The other veteran lawyers in the county attorney's office could not stop talking about him Wednesday as they tried to come to grips with his death the day before when a stolen vehicle crashed into his car at a Westbury intersection.

"This is the desk of a trial lawyer," County Attorney John Ciampoli said in Carney's small, darkened office at One West Street. Ciampoli fingered a yellow note posted on the computer reminding Carney of an upcoming court appearance. Chunks of legal briefs were stacked at odd angles on the desk, and other papers littered the chairs and floor.

Several doors down, Deputy County Attorney Barry Dennis talked about Carney as several colleagues nodded in agreement. "He was just a great, great guy," Dennis said.

Attorney Catherine Gray jumped in to talk about Carney dressing up as Santa for her kids. Attorney James Gallagher said Carney was the kind of person who volunteered to take on work.

As the talk turned to Carney's off-hours, attorney James Scott, among a number of people who had come to stand outside the door, said just this past weekend, Carney went to see a play in Bohemia. "He liked it, and he got tickets and took a bunch of people back," Scott said.

His colleagues said they knew little about Carney's family life. He graduated from Columbia Law School and joined the county attorney's office in 1973, the year he passed the bar exam.

Legis. Dennis Dunne (R-Levittown), who represents the area where Carney lived, said, "He was just a wonderful, wonderful guy. The community will miss him. He was upbeat and had just a great approach to his job."

Kathryn Driscoll Hopkins, now the chief clerk in Nassau Supreme Court, worked with Carney for 13 years in the county attorney's office and recalled how he helped her with Christmas shopping a year ago.

He was so knowledgeable about computers and electronic gear that other shoppers mistook him for a salesman.

Viewing will be at the O’Shea Funeral Home at 603 Wantagh Ave. in Wantagh from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church, 3100 Hempstead Tpk. in Levittown.