Peter Passidomo

Professor Passidomo is the Chief Magistrate of the New York State Family Court and the Vice-Dean of the Judicial Institute. Peter graduated from the State University of New York at Albany, magna cum laude, in 1982, with a B.A. degree. He received his J.D. degree from Fordham Law School in 1985, graduating in the top 10% of his class.

Professor Passidomo began his legal career as an attorney for the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation in 1985, prior to joining the family court in 1989. He was appointed as a Family Court Hearing Examiner (title has been changed to Support Magistrate) in 1992. In 1996, he was appointed as the Chief Court Attorney in the New York City Family Court.

In 2003, Professor Passidomo was appointed to the position of Chief Magistrate. As the Chief Family Court Magistrate, he is in charge of New York State's 120 Support Magistrates and 50 Court Attorney-Referees. Support Magistrates preside over all child support and paternity matters in New York; Court Attorney-Referees preside over child custody and child protective matters.

In 2006, Professor Passidomo was appointed as the Vice-Dean of the New York State Judicial Institute. The Judicial Institute is charged with training New York's 1,400 State Judges, 2,400 town and village judges, as well as 2,000 attorneys working for the Unified Court System. He currently serves as both the Chief Magistrate and as Vice-Dean.

Professor Passidomo is the co-chair of the Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee, one of the standing advisory committees of the Court. The committee consists of Family Court Judges and other professionals charged with drafting court rules and legislation that affect the family court.