Homegrown Queens attorney nominated to the bench

Gary Miret was nominated to serve as a judge on the Court of Claims on May 25, 2021.  Photo via the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County

By Jacob Kaye

Gary Miret thought he was being pranked. 

He had just received word from one of his colleagues that the governor’s office was looking for him and that they had an urgent message. 

Still, Miret, who has worked as a criminal defense, real estate, wills and general practice attorney for the past 26 years, called the governor’s office back and got some very exciting news. 

On Tuesday, May 25, Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated Miret for a judgeship in the Court of Claims. If confirmed by the State Senate next month, he’ll officially become a judge before the end of the summer. 

“I got a rush of emotion,” Miret said. “Something that I have fought for and worked hard for had come to fruition in a matter of minutes.”

Miret, who serves as the treasurer and was a founding member of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, was born and raised in Jackson Heights. Attending grade school, college and law school in the borough, Miret is a Queens kid through and through. Coming from a family of lawyers, he knew pretty early on that a life in the courthouse was in his future. 

“I knew already in high school that I wanted to be an assistant district attorney in Queens,” he said. 

His dream came true when he began working in the DA’s office in 1986 as an assistant district attorney. Working as a prosecutor during some of the city’s most violent years, Miret worked in the DA’s office for 10 years before transitioning into private practice. 

While he said he’ll miss being his own boss, Miret will miss most the people and the relationships he’s built up over the past several decades working as a private attorney. 

“The biggest thing I’ll miss about private practice is the camaraderie I’ve built up in the last 26 years,” he said. “The kidding around, the asking each other questions...That’s what I’m going to miss most.”

“I call them all my brothers and sisters,” he added. “Because we’re brethren.”

But what he’ll miss from his old life, he’s confident he’ll gain in his new one. 

“I’m most looking forward to be able to work with a bunch of great judges who I’ve had the pleasure of appearing in front of over the last 20 plus years,” he said.

One of those judges, Administrative Judge of the Queens Criminal Courts Joseph Zayas was also told on Tuesday that he’d been promoted. Zayas, who will soon take the bench in the Appellate Division, Second Department, said the only downside to Miret’s nomination is that they won’t be able to work together.  

“I think he’s going to be an extraordinary judge,” Zayas said. “I have such great respect for Gary Miret and my only regret is that I won’t be able to actually sit with him as a judge in the same court.”

The jury is still out on whether or not Miret will be assigned to work in Queens but he says, regardless, he’ll take the lessons he learned here wherever he goes. 

“There's a phrase outside St. John's Law School, which I've lived by, as an ADA and as a defense attorney – ‘fighting equal justice for all.’ And that is something that sometimes is not easy to achieve,” Miret said. “But we have to continue working hard. And I think now this would be the third step, working hard to make sure that's achieved, God willing, in my courtroom.”