Nicholas G. Garaufis entered service as a U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of New York on August 28, 2000.
He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on Feb. 28, 2000, upon the recommendation of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). On May 24, 2000, the United States Senate confirmed Garaufis by unanimous consent.
Prior to his appointment, Garaufis served for more than five years as the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C., overseeing a staff of 200 attorneys. Prior to his appointment to the Clinton administration in June 1995, Garaufis served for nine years as counsel to Queens Borough President Claire Shulman in New York City.
Garaufis began his legal career in 1974 as an associate of Chadbourne & Parke. He also served as an assistant attorney general in the Litigation Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office under Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz and has practiced law privately in Queens County, N.Y.
Garaufis received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1974 and his B.A. from Columbia College in 1969.