After 25 years on the bench, State Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran is retiring. In a statement released Friday, Doran said he will step down in March to join Leonard’s Express as general counsel.
“For more than 30 years, the people of our region have entrusted me with the great honor and privilege of serving in their government; first as an Assemblyman, and for the last quarter-century as a Judge.
“In March of 2025, I will retire from public service and will proudly and enthusiastically join Leonard’s Express as General Counsel. Leonard’s Express is a family-owned, local company, with operations located across the United States. Words are not adequate to express my gratitude to all who have made the last three decades of serving the public extraordinarily rewarding. First, I am extremely grateful for the support of my family and friends who have been by my side in good times and through challenging times.
“I wish to express my profound gratitude to the dedicated professionals I have had the privilege of working alongside – and learning from- including the most talented group of Law Clerks, Administrative Assistants, and Court Staff found anywhere; Judicial and Legislative colleagues; office holders in our Federal, State, and local governments, as well as the many dedicated and talented advocates for justice from across our community.
“Finally, and importantly, I am truly grateful to the people of our region who have trusted me to serve in their government.
“There has not been one single day of public life that I did not feel incredibly blessed to have had the honor and joy of working with and for tens of thousands of the finest and most committed, compassionate, hard-working people.
“Thanks to all for the greatest career I could have ever hoped to have had. Thank you also to the Johnson and Leonard’s Express families for presenting this exciting opportunity.
“God Bless and Happy New Year!”
Prior to his election to the Supreme Court in 2015, Justice Doran served as an Ontario County Court Judge, having been elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2009, presiding over Criminal, Civil and Family Court. In 2006, he was appointed Supervising Judge of Family Courts in the Seventh Judicial District. In 2011, he was appointed Administrative Judge of the Seventh Judicial District, making him the chief supervisor of all Courts in an eight-county region. He has also been the Presiding Judge of Drug Treatment Courts. Justice Doran has been a member of the NYS Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, served as Chair of the Judicial Commission on Interbranch Relations, Co-Chair of the NYS Juvenile Justice Strategic Planning Advisory Committee (advising the Governor on statewide juvenile justice policy), and is a member of the Office of Court Administration Raise the Age (RTA) Task Force. Chief Judge Janet DiFiore selected him to serve on the Judiciary Task Force on the Constitution, and the Judicial Commission on Parental Representation.
A lifelong resident of Canandaigua, Justice Doran graduated from Canandaigua Academy in 1982, then from SUNY-Albany (magna cum laude) earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Communications. In 1989, he received his Juris Doctor Degree from Albany Law School (cum laude) where he served as an editor of the Albany Law Review, authoring a published article on the effects of government regulation upon the rights of landowners. In 1994, he was elected to represent New York State’s 129th Assembly District in the State Legislature, where he served until 1999.
At the University of Rochester and at Keuka College, Justice Doran serves as an Adjunct Professor, teaching upper-level classes in the Legal Studies and the Adult Studies Criminal Justice Bachelor and Master’s Degree Programs respectively. He also serves as an Instructor Expert for the Center for Professional Studies and International Programs at Keuka College. Justice Doran has also taught at Finger Lakes Community College.
Justice Doran is, or has been affiliated with Canandaigua Kiwanis, Canandaigua Merrill Hose Fire Department, Geneva Hydrant Hose Fire Company, Geneva Rotary, Board of the Seneca Waterways Council of Boy Scouts, The Partnership for Ontario County, Community Action Partnership, the United Way, Task Force on Homeless Children, Falling Through the Cracks Committee, Thompson Health Kids in Crisis, and was Vice Chair of the 19-county Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency’s Regional Commission on Community Health Improvement. Justice Doran serves on the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) Steering Committee and the Monroe County Systems Integration Project (SIP) Committee.
He is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, recipient of the Center for Dispute Settlement’s Honored Peacemaker Award, Seneca Waterways Council of Boy Scouts’ Distinguished Service to Youth and Silver Beaver Awards, Rochester Black Bar Association’s Champion of Diversity, Center for Youth’s Cuminale Youth Advocate Award for his work supporting LGBTQ Youth, and is a Canandaigua Academy Graduate of Distinction. In 2019, Justice Doran was awarded Jurist of the Year honors from the Monroe County Bar Association.
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