ABOUT DAVID

          As a life-long New Yorker, longtime Lower East Side resident, and the only candidate for judge who lives in the district (or even Manhattan!), David Alan Fraiden is someone the Lower East Side/East Village community would be proud to elect as Judge of the Civil Court.    

          David was born into a progressive household in the Bronx, in 1975. A Democrat since birth and the son of an early childhood public school teacher and a lawyer who served the residents of the South Bronx and surrounding communities, David was raised to believe in the value of public service. David grew up with an understanding of the legal system from an early age, and on countless occasions, went to court with his father to help bring justice to the residents of those communities.    

           After graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 2002, David spent the first decade and a half of his career in his family law firm in the South Bronx, handling cases from all over the City. David's clients have always been representative of our community, and he has been privileged to be there for them through every step of the legal process. From Civil Court to Criminal Court, from Housing Court to Family Court, from Supreme Court to the Appellate Division, David has the wide range of experience necessary to perform the duties as a judge of the Civil Court. David is one of the select few lawyers in this City who has tried cases to jury verdict and brings that additional wealth of experience with him.    

            David Alan Fraiden is also a candidate who has experience as a decision-maker and who has judicial experience at both the City and Federal levels.    

             As a former Administrative Law Judge who started with the New York City Department of Finance, David worked his way up to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) Hearings division. For years, David decided matters regarding a wide range of issues that impacted the lives of residents. Throughout his time serving in this capacity, David focused on treating each Respondent with respect and dignity, regardless of what they were charged with, and further focused on ensuring that Due Process safeguards were met, to protect the integrity of the system.    

             As a former United States Immigration Judge who served under multiple administrations, David brought compassion and reason to a usually antagonistic process. David presided over a wide range of cases, and had the highest grant rates for dealing with asylum cases based on claims of persecution and torture; only issuing removal orders against those who had been found to have given material support to international terrorist organizations, and those who had been convicted of serious/violent felonies. Resigning his Federal judgeship just so that he could run in this race, David is committed to the ideals of the Civil Court and comes ready with his judicial experience from day one.    

              David has a lifelong track record of inclusion and compassion and an incredibly diverse skill set from being a private attorney who handled a wide variety of cases. David is committed to public service, and as a former Administrative Law Judge and former United States Immigration Judge, has a track record of treating people fairly and decently through every step of the process.