The
HONORABLE VINCENT G BRADLEY , a state Supreme Court justice in New Yorks Third Judicial District, died Friday, Nov. 24, 2006, at Benedictine Hospital. He was 67.
Admitted to the New York State Bar in December 1967, Justice Bradley entered into private practice in 1968 and was a partner with the - firm Ryan, Bradley and Kerr, where he specialized in workers compensation, insurance and corporate law until 1981.
He was appointed to the state Supreme Court bench by Gov. Hugh Carey on June 9, 1981, and was elected to 14-year terms in November 1981 and November 1995: Justice Bradley was an enrolled democrat but was cross-endorsed by the Republican Party in both elections.
During his quarter century on the bench, Justice Bradley decided or settled thousands of civil cases including personal injury matters, matrimonial actions, corporate disputes, guardianship proceedings and Article 78 proceedings against state and local agencies. He was known for the accessibili¬ty of his court to litigants and attorneys.
Significant decisions during his tenure included four separate rulings in Tobin v. County of Ulster, the Ulster County. legislative redistricting case that led to a significant revamping of the Legislature; WEOK Broadcasting Corp. v. Town of Lloyd Planning Board, subsequently affirmed by the state Court of Appeals, which held that generalized Community objections cannot be a planning boards sole basis for denying site plan approvals; and Gordon v. Village of Monticello, also later affirmed by the Court of Appeals, which upheld. Justice Bradleys award of attorneys fees against pub¬lic officials who had intentionally violated the states Open Meetings Law.
The judicial district in which Justice Bradley served comprises the counties of Ulster, Greene, Columbia, Sullivan, Albany, Rensselaer and Schoharie. His chambers were in Kingston.
Justice Bradley received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 from the SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, He received his law degree in 1967 from Fordham University Law School in New York City.
Early in his career, he served as an attorney with Kingstons Urban Renewal Agency and as an estate tax attorney for Ulster County. From 1962-64, he was an officer in the US Merchant Marine, working( with American Export, Labrandtsen Lines in New York.
Rian Bradley said his fathers death leaves a void in Kingston. We will never know how many lives he touched, but if the last few days are any indication, it is much more than we imagined, he said.
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