The Honorable Richard A. Dollinger’s career in government service spans over 30 years. He most recently served as acting Supreme Court Justice in the Seventh Judicial District until December 2021. Appointed to the New York Court of Claims in 2009, he also served as Supervising Judge of the Town and Village Courts and the Matrimonial Parts in the Seventh Judicial District. Judge Dollinger authored more than 160 decisions on matrimonial topics during his tenure, and was a frequent lecturer on judicial and historical topics and published law review articles as well as numerous articles on legal and historical topics.

Before his appointment to the New York Court of Claims, Judge Dollinger served as a member of the Monroe County Legislature for five years and in the New York State Senate for ten years. He was a trial lawyer for 28 years, trying jury and non-jury cases in all civil courts, including State Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Buffalo and Rochester) as well as arguing appeals in two of the four Appellate Divisions in the State of New York, the Second Circuit of Appeals, and the United States Federal Court of Appeals.

Judge Dollinger is a graduate of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto and a graduate, cum laude, of the Albany Law School. He is a recipient of the Monroe County Bar Association’s President’s Award and the Monroe County Magistrates Association’s Outstanding Jurist Award, among other honors. He is a former chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, and a current member of the Little Big Horn Associates and the Patrick H. O’Rorke Memorial Society.