For the previous ten years he was on the staff of the Chief Counsel of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court in the First Judicial Department, where he investigated and prosecuted matters involving violations of the rules governing attorney conduct. Prior to that he served as a Special Assistant Attorney General and an Assistant Attorney General, investigating and prosecuting white collar crimes, including police corruption, violation of tax law, the unlawful practice of law, and violation of drug laws by medical professionals. Previously, he had been an Assistant District Attorney in New York City and, immediately upon graduation from New York University Law School in 1977, he had served as appellate counsel in the Criminal Appeals Bureau of the New York City Legal Aid Society.