On August 21, 2024, Henry Ricardo was sworn in as a Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York, replacing the retiring James L. Cott, who had served on the bench for nearly 20 years.
A Bronx native, Magistrate Judge Ricardo obtained his A.B. from Princeton University in 1989, and then taught at a junior high school in Manhattan. In 1993, he received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, a James Kent Scholar, a member of the Journal of Law and Social Problems, and a moot court editor.
Before joining the bench, Magistrate Judge Ricardo was a partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, where he coordinated the firm’s Legal Outreach College Bound Program. Previously, Magistrate Judge Ricardo had been a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and its predecessor firm, where he served as hiring partner and a member of the litigation department steering committee. During his more than 30 years in private practice, he represented a variety of clients, including financial services firms, in business disputes, especially those arising out of the 2008 financial crisis. His acumen for handling contentious discovery disputes was undoubtedly a key attribute in preparing him for his new role as a magistrate judge.
Seeking more engagement with public service, Magistrate Judge Ricardo applied to fill Magistrate Judge Cott’s seat in the Southern District. After the long application and interview process, there was no doubt in his mind when Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain called to offer him the position. To prepare for the challenges of his new position, he studied the Bail Reform Act and other commonly used criminal statutes and procedures, read recent decisions by his soon-to-be colleagues, and observed criminal and civil proceedings in the courthouse.
Since taking the bench, Magistrate Judge Ricardo has found his new colleagues in the courthouse to be friendly and full of helpful guidance. He has found stepping into the role of mediator in settlement conferences to be particularly rewarding and enjoys working to understand where parties are coming from to help guide them to a workable resolution. He also enjoys drawing on his own experience litigating discovery disputes to help parties find practical and efficient solutions to their own discovery battles.
One of Magistrate Judge Cott’s former law clerks agreed to stay on to work with Magistrate Judge Ricardo, and he brought along a Patterson Belknap associate to fill his second clerkship slot. Magistrate Judge Ricardo values his clerks’ ability to “ask the next question,” and their willingness to think and rethink through a problem until they get to the right answer. He appreciates it when his clerks challenge his initial impression, which, he has on occasion realized, is not always right.
Magistrate Judge Ricardo’s wife, whom he met at Columbia, is the Assistant Dean of Professionalism and Lawyering Skills Program Director at Fordham Law School. Together they are the parents of two grown sons. In his spare time, Magistrate Judge Ricardo enjoys traveling and cheering for the Yankees.