Syracuse attorney elected as Family Court judge (02/25/01)

Syracuse attorney elected as Family Court judge

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Attorney Michael L. Hanuszczak was elected this past November to a 10-year term as a Family Court judge in Onondaga County. Running with the support of the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Working Families parties Hanuszczak received over 90,000 votes. It is believed that Mr. Hanuszczak is the first Ukrainian American elected to a superior court in New York.

Judge Hanuszczak assumed his seat on the bench on January 1 and at the age of 44 is the youngest Family Court judge serving in Onondaga County.

A practicing litigation attorney for 15 years, Mr. Hanuszczak is admitted to practice in New York and Florida, as well as before the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Hanuszczak was successful in his first run for public office in 1991, when he was elected to the Onondaga County Legislature. He was re-elected in 1993 and served as a legislator for four years.

In 1995 he was selected to be the CNY Regional Office Head for the New York State Attorney General's Office during the adrninistration of Dennis Vacco. Most recently he was employed as special counsel to Robert Snashall, chairman of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board.

Originally from Buffalo, Judge Hanuszczak is the youngest child of the late Dmytro and Ewa Hanuszczak, who emigrated to the United States in 1950 from a displaced persons camp in Germany. He was a member of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM), graduated from St. Nicholas Ukrainian grammar school in Buffalo, and is a member of Branch 127 of the Ukrainian National Association. Judge Hanuszczak obtained a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Syracuse University in 1980 and his juris doctor degree from the University of Buffalo in 1984.

He and his wife, Mona, reside in Syracuse with their four children, Peter, Larissa and twin daughters Bridget and Laura. A parishioner of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Syracuse, Judge Hanuszczak thanked the members of his parish and the members of St. Luke's Ukrainian Orthodox Church for their overwhelming support and assistance during his successful campaign for judicial office.

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