S. Barrett Hickman

S. Barrett Hickman was a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York and at the time of his death was of counsel to this Firm. He possessed a substantial and distinguished record of service to the community. A graduate of Hamilton College, he served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and thereafter graduated from Cornell University Law School.

He was admitted to practice law in all Courts of the State of New York since 1959.  From 1965-1976, he served as a Town Justice in the Town of Carmel, and thereafter was elected Putnam County District Attorney. 

In 1979 he was elected to a Putnam County Court judgeship which included Surrogate’s Court and Family Court duties, followed in 1985 by his election to the New York State Supreme Court where he served until 2003.  Judge Hickman gained national attention for presiding over the 1999 defamation suit brought by Stephen Pagones in Poughkeepsie, New York, against the attorneys for Tawana Brawley.  He was a member of the Putnam County, Westchester County, New York State and American Bar Associations, New York State County Judge’s Association, Surrogate’s Association and Family Court Judges, American Judiciary and New York State Judiciary Sections. 

He was also a former Secretary of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Unified Bar and former Member of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics.  He served as a Director of Putnam Community Hospital, a member of the Executive Board of Westchester-Putnam Council, Inc., B.S.A,  a President of the American Lung Association, Hudson Valley, Inc.; and member of the Mahopac Rotary Club, Red Cross and Girl Scout Fund Drives and Mahopac Chamber of Commerce.  A lifelong resident of Putnam County, he resided with his wife, Valerie Hickman, who is the current Director of the Putnam County Visitor’s Bureau.