Leadership & Advocacy

Hank Greenberg's President's Page

Henry M. “Hank” Greenberg of Albany, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, became president of the New York State Bar Association on June 1, 2019. He spent the previous year as president-elect and chair of the House of Delegates.

Greenberg concentrates his practice on civil litigation, criminal and civil investigations, and regulatory and administrative law. He is a former counsel to then-New York State Attorney General (now Governor) Andrew M. Cuomo, general counsel for the New York State Department of Health, and a federal prosecutor. Among other government posts, he also served as a law clerk to then-Associate Judge (later Chief Judge) Judith S. Kaye of the New York. Court of Appeals.

Previously, he served in NYSBA’s House of Delegates as vice-president of the Third Judicial District, and chaired the Committee on the New York State Constitution, the Committee on Court Structure and Operations, the Legislative Policy Committee, the Steven C. Krane Special Committee on Law School Loan Assistance for Public Interest, and the Committee on Attorneys in Public Service. He chairs the New York State Third Department Judicial Screening Committee, serves on the statewide Judicial Screening Committee, and is counsel to the New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination, which nominates New York’s Court of Appeals judges.

He is a vice chair of the Historical Society of the New York Courts, a life fellow of the New York Bar Foundation, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the New York State Judicial Institute on Professionalism in the Law and the Advisory Group of the New York State and Federal Judicial Council.

A frequent lecturer, Greenberg has been published numerous times on a wide range of legal subjects. He is a co-editor of the book Judith S. Kaye in Her Own Words: Reflections on Life and the Law, with Selected Judicial Opinions and Articles. In April 2019, Greenberg joined an impressive group of individuals from the highest levels of the profession who have delivered the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Lecture, the annual event that honors Hughes’s service to the nation and devotion to the law. Greenberg’s lecture was titled “Charles Evans Hughes & The Role of New York’s Organized Bar at a Time of Crisis for the Rule of Law.” 

Greenberg earned his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law, cum laude, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, with honors.

February 13, 2020: Statement Regarding Department of Justice Intervention in the Roger Stone Case

February 11, 2020, WAMC, Hank Greenberg: It's Time to Legalize Pot in NY

February 11, 2020: Statement on President Trump's Proposed Budget for 2021 

February 10, 2020: Statement on Sen. Brad Hoylman's Bill Addressing Diversity in the Judiciary

February 7, 2020: Statement on the House of Representatives Vote to Provide Aid to Puerto Rico

February 3, 2020: Statement on the Passing of U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts

January 29, 2020: Unprecedented State Bar Association Panel Examines White Nationalism and Domestic Terrorism in America

January 28, 2020: State Bar Announces Global Membership Initiative Based on Collaboration with Local Bar Associations Around the World 

January 22, 2020: New York State Bar Association President Henry M. Greenberg Supports Governor on Court Modernization

January 22, 2020: Christopher Riano to Lead State Bar Association Committee on LGBTQ People and the Law

January 10, 2020: Statement on the Ongoing Crisis in Puerto Rico

January 8, 2020: WAMC, A Cancer in the Body Politic

January 6, 2020: NYSBA Convenes Task Force on Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes to Combat Surge in Violence

January 2, 2020: WAMC, The Oath

December 26, 2019: Statement on Recently Passed Polish Legislation That Threatens to Punish Judges for Speaking Out

December 20, 2019: NY’s Coming Bail, Discovery Reforms Support Role of Law, Syracuse Post-Standard (Opinion)

December 18, 2019: Statement on the Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump

December 18, 2019: NYSBA President Hank Greenberg Honored with Responsible 100 Legal Award from City & State New York

December 18, 2019: State Bar Association Presidential Summit To Examine White Nationalism and Domestic Terrorism in America

November 27, 2019: WAMC, Simplifying the NY Court System

November 15, 2019: State Bar Association Task Force Reviewing NY Bar Exam to Hold Public Hearing in New York

November 14, 2019: NYSBA Seeks to Broaden Reach with New Communications Hire

November 13, 2019: State Bar Association President Testifies at Legislative Hearing on Court Reorganization

November 11, 2019: Times Union, Commentary: Reform court system and do justice to the people of NY

November 5, 2019: State Bar Association Task Force on Parole Reform Releases Initial Report

November 4, 2019: NYSBA Receives Overwhelming Support for Proposal to Eliminate Mental Health Questions from NY's Bar Application

November 4, 2019: Democrat and Chronicle, Put Politics Aside and Fix New York's Court System (Opinion)

October 31, 2019: WAMC, On Being Agreeably Disagreeable

October 31, 2019: Diversity Highlighted at New York State Bar Association International Section 2019 Global Conference in Tokyo

October 14, 2019: Interview with WNYC, Impeachment: Legal Guide

October 3, 2019: Renowned Impeachment Expert Cass Sunstein to Speak at Free State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Event

October 2, 2019: WAMC, Lawyers and Depression

September 27, 2019: Interview with the Capitol Pressroom

September 27, 2019: State Bar Association Responds to Sen. Kamala Harris' Call to Investigate Former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

September 20, 2019: New York State Bar Association Publishes Book Outlining Legal Protections for Immigrants

September 20, 2019: NYSBA Committee on Cannabis Law To Examine Potential Legalization of Adult Recreational Marijuana Use in New York

September 19, 2019: Interview with NY1, Navigating the Immigration System

September 18, 2019: Interview with WAMC, The Capitol Connection

August 30, 2019: Interview with New York NOW

August 20, 2019: New York State Bar Association Mourns Passing of Former President G. Robert Witmer, Jr.

August 12, 2019: American Bar Association Adopts NYSBA-Advanced Resolution on Best Practice Guidelines for Online Legal Document Providers

August 5, 2019: State Bar Association Mourns with Nation for Victims of Recent Mass Shootings

July 23, 2019: State Bar Association Mourns Passing of Legendary District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau 

July 9, 2019: State Bar Association Launches Task Force to Study Parole System

July 2, 2019: NYSBA Mourns the Passing of Former President Whitney North Seymour, Jr.

Watch President Greenberg Speak on the Importance of Diversity

July 2, 2019: New York State Bar Association to Examine the State of Rural Law Practice in New York

Watch President Greenberg Address New Admittees at Albany Admissions Ceremony

July 1, 2019: State Bar Association Calls on U.S. Government to End Inhumane Treatment of Detained Immigrant Children 

June 19, 2019: State Bar President, Committee on Families and the Law Chair Deliver Testimony on Parental Access to Assigned Counsel at Office of Indigent Legal Services Hearing in Albany

June 17, 2019: NYSBA Urges Legislature and Governor to Establish A First-In-The-Nation Statutory Right to Counsel in New York Immigration Proceedings

Watch President Greenberg's Testimony at Governor Cuomo's Press Conference Regarding Legislation to Ban the “Gay Panic” and “Trans Panic” Defense

June 11, 2019: New York State Bar Association Announces Groundbreaking Initiative to Support and Save Local News Outlets

June 10, 2019: New York State Bar Association Creates Blue-Ribbon Wellness Task Force

June 6, 2019: Statement on the Planned Cancellation of Legal Aid for Unaccompanied Minor Migrant Children

June 6, 2019: Henry M. “Hank” Greenberg To Be Sworn In As President Of The New York State Bar Association By Chief Judge Janet DiFiore

Watch President Greenberg Speak on The Braschi Breakthrough: 30 Years Later, Looking Back on the Relationship Recognition Landmark

June 3, 2019: State Bar Takes Unprecedented Steps to Diversify Leadership

June 3, 2019: New York State Bar Association Announces Groundbreaking Initiative to Examine the Impact of Autonomous Vehicles

June 1, 2019: Henry M. Greenberg Becomes President of the New York State Bar Association