In 1961, he was appointed to the New York Supreme Court (7th District) to fill a vacancy, and elected in November 1961 to a fourteen-year term.
In 1972, he was elected on the Republican and Conservative tickets to the New York Court of Appeals.
In 1978, his was one of the seven names on the list submitted to Governor Hugh L. Carey from which to choose the new Chief Judge, but Lawrence H. Cooke was selected.
He retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1982 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years.
He died at the Villa Mary Immaculate Nursing Home in Albany after struggling a month with pneumonia.