The supervising judge of the Nassau County Court is rejoining the Long Island firm he co-founded more than 30 years ago. Judge John Kase, who has reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, will become a partner at Kase & Druker in Garden City after his term ends at midnight tonight. Kase served as the supervising judge for the Nassau County Court for the past year after being elected a judge in 2005 (NYLJ, Dec. 8, 2011). No replacement in his supervisory role has been announced yet.
Kase said he plans to handle criminal defense cases and professional misconduct matters at Kase & Druker. The firm's practices include criminal defense, taxation and administrative law. To avoid any appearance of impropriety, Kase said that for the next two years he will move that any judges he supervised recuse themselves when he appears before them. Kase said he will miss working with other judges and court staff, but it will be "terrific" to work alongside his daughter Elizabeth, one of his firm's partners. The others are James Druker and Druker's son, Scott.
A graduate of St. John's University School of Law admitted to the bar in 1967, Kase became a judge after almost 30 years in private practice. Before that, he worked for both the Nassau County and Bronx district attorney's offices, the New York State Organized Crime Task Force and the U.S. Department of Justice.
