Judge Edward W. McCarty, III: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. Edward W. McCarty, III (Ret.) was a judge for the Nassau County Surrogate’s Court in the Tenth Judicial District of New York. He was elected to the Surrogate’s Court in 2011. McCarty retired in 2015.

He began his judicial career as a judge for the Nassau County District Court in 1985. McCarty would later be elected to serve as a justice of the Nassau County Supreme Court in 1992.

He received a B.S. from Siena College in 1967. McCarty also completed a J.D. at St. John’s University Law School in 1970.

He is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. During his service, McCarty had international assignments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, Albania, Germany, Haiti, Slovenia, Belgium, and Luxembourg. He served as Director of the Court Reform Project of the Haitian Legal Task Force, tasked with evaluating and making reform recommendations for the Haitian legal system, and was a Legal Officer on the Kuwait Task Force, where he helped in the restoration of legal services to liberated Kuwait.

McCarty also served as an Assistant Mission Director for the Department of Defense, providing humanitarian support to Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Some of his command assignments included serving as Staff Judge Advocate to the 77th RSC; Commander to the 7th Legal Service Organization; Acting Commander to the 353rd Civil Affairs Command; and Staff Judge Advocate to the 301st Support Group. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star for his service during Operation Desert Storm. McCarty retired from the JAG Corps in 2000.

Over the course of his civilian legal career, he was assistant counsel for the Judicial Inquiry of Professional Conduct of the New York State Supreme Court (1971 to 1972) and served as an assistant district attorney with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office (1972 to 1985) until his joining the District Court bench.

McCarty has taught as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law and Widener University School of Law and as a professor at Touro Law School Trial Advocacy Institute, and the New York State Judicial Institute.

In 2010, McCarty was designated a fellow in the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Judge Program.

After retiring from the bench, he joined NAM as a neutral and became of counsel at Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP in the firm’s Trust and Estate Administration, Trust and Estate Litigation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practices.