As many of our members know, this past August, our own Hon. John G. Farrell, announced that he accepted a position as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration. After completing a four week training period starting September 24th, he will be relocating to Savannah, Georgia.
Judge Farrell attended the University of Rochester where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. He received his Juris Doctor from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law in 1988 and began his career as a New York State administrative law judge in 1992 with the NYS Department of Labor. In 1996, he was hired as an ALJ by the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board. Three years later, in 1999, he joined the general membership ranks of NYSALJA, and was first nominated to serve as a member of its Executive Committee in 2004. That same year, Judge Farrell’s first article in the Journal of the National Administrative Law Judiciary appeared. Electronic Case Files and Administrative Hearings: A View From the Bench, was published in the Spring 2004 issue. (24 J.NAALJ 33).
In 2006, Judge Farrell became NYSALJA President, serving from 2006 through 2008. That year he also received the National Administrative Law Judiciary Foundation Fellowship, which was presented at the National Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ) Annual National Conference in Seattle, Washington, for his article, Administrative Alternatives to Judicial Branch Congestion. It was later published in the JNALJ Spring 2007 issue. (27 J.NAALJ 1). In 2008 he co-chaired the NAALJ Annual National Conference in New York City.
As a member of NAALJ since 1999, he served that organization as Secretary, Chair of the Sponsorship Committee, Chair of the Fellowship Committee, and President (2011-2012). He currently serves as its Immediate Past President.
During his tenure in New York as an administrative law judge, Judge Farrell set a high standard for all of us to live up to. We wish him every success in his new career as a Federal ALJ.