Prudenti to be chief administrative judge

Gail Prudenti, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, who had served as a judge and barrister in Suffolk courts and climbed the ranks of the state's judicial hierarchy, has been selected to be the state's chief administrative judge.

Office of Court Administration spokesman David Bookstaver said that Prudenti's appointment would be announced Friday.

Prudenti was tapped by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to assume the position soon after the announcement that Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau would be leaving her post on Dec. 1. The Legislative Gazette, an Albany-based periodical documenting the state's affairs, reported Thursday that Pfau would become the coordinating judge of the New York State Medical Malpractice Program.

Lippman promoted her to district administrative judge for Suffolk County, a position she held from 1999 to 2001. Lippman also selected her for acting Supreme Court Justice, serving from 1996 to 2000.

Prudenti was appointed to her current position, based in Brooklyn, by then-Gov. George E. Pataki in 2002.

Before joining the bench, Prudenti had served as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk District Attorney's Office and a law clerk in the county's Surrogate's Court.