At the New York County Lawyers' Law Day luncheon on April 29, 2011 the Justice Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award was presented by Hon. Judith S. Kaye to Hon. Bernard J. Fried, Supreme Court Justice in the Commercial Division of New York County. The Capozzoli Gavel Award commemorates the life of a lawyer and judge who was devoted to public service and embodied the highest ideals of the profession. This award has been given to a distinguished attorney or judge each year since 1984.
The welcoming address was delivered by James B. Kobak, President of the New York County Lawyers' Association, in which he stressed the importance of due process and access to the courts.
Special Law Day remarks were delivered in a keynote address by Hon. Eric T. Schneiderman, newly elected New York State Attorney General.
In her introduction Judge Judith Kaye noted that Justice Fried has had an illustrious career in the judiciary.
The record shows that in 1980 he was appointed by Mayor Edward I. Koch as a Judge of the Criminal Court in the City of New York. He was reappointed by Mayor David N. Dinkins, Mayor Rudolph W. Guiliani and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
In 1984 as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, he served in the Criminal Branch in Bronx County and in 1989 was reassigned to New York County, Supreme Court, Criminal Branch, where he was also assigned to civil cases. He has been assigned to the Commercial Division, New York County, since February 2004.
In April 2010, Governor David A. Paterson nominated him to serve as an Interim Justice of the Supreme Court for which post he was confirmed by the New York State Senate on May 4, 2010. He was certificated in January 2011.
Justice Fried was a member of the Commission on the Jury and has participated in various legal education programs including the New York State-Federal Judicial Council Seminar on Expert Witnesses (2001), Federal Bar Council Winter Meetings (2008 and 2011) and the International Moot Court in the Hague, the Netherlands (2001, 2005, 2007 and 2009). He was an invited speaker at the 2009 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meeting, Singapore, from 1982 to 2009. From 1981 to 2009 he was an adjunct Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School. In 2003 he received the Annual Award from the New York Criminal Bar Association.
Also, certificates for 25 years of Distinguished Judicial Service were presented to four members of the New York judiciary: Presiding Justice Hon. Luis A. Gonzalez, Hon. Bruce Allen, Hon. Michael J. Obus and Hon. Michael D. Stallman.