CIVC CENTER — Another top Bloomberg official is set to depart the outgoing mayor's administration to return to the private sector.
Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo will rejoin the New York City-based Proskauer law firm on January 1, after serving under Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his entire 12-year term, the city's law department announced Tuesday.
Cardozo — who is the longest-serving city corporation counsel in city history — was at the center of the Bloomberg administration's many legal battles over the years, having most recently tangled with the City Council over wage legislation and fought the ongoing legal fight over Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policies.
Cardozo launched his career in law at Proskauer as an associate in 1967 — and has continued to speak of it in glowing terms.
"After 12 rewarding years as Corporation Counsel, I look forward to returning to one of the nation's great law firms — and my first professional home," Cardozo said in a statement. He said he planned on using the experience he gained in government to "advise and litigate on behalf of clients, to serve as an arbitrator, to continue my commitment to pro bono work, and to participate in ongoing efforts to improve the functioning of the New York courts."
Bloomberg praised Cardozo's "legal insight and acumen, his respect for the law, and his commitment to public service have been second to none."
"He has been instrumental in shaping and defending many of our most innovative and effective public policies, from public health and safety to education reform and economic development to transportation and environmental protection," Bloomberg said in a statement Tuesday.
