Who is Arthur Engoron, the judge who ordered Trump to pay $350M in NY civil fraud case?

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over former President Trump's contentious civil fraud trial, is a longtime judge who once pursued a career in music, drove a yellow taxi and still authors an alumni newsletter about his high school.

Engoron was born in Queens, New York, in the late 1940s before his family moved to Long Island, where he attended The Wheatley School, a public high school in Old Westbury, New York. Engoron was active at the school, running track and contributing to the school newspaper before graduating from the school in 1967.

Years after his graduation, Engoron founded the Wheatley Alumni Association and still authors the group's online newsletter. Engoron published the most recent newsletter entry on Monday, boasting of increased traffic on the blog, listing the compliments the newsletter had received and detailing life updates of past Wheatley graduates.

"Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary," he concluded, as he does in every post before signing off as "Art."

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Justice Arthur Engoron presides over the civil fraud trial of the Trump Organization at the New York State Supreme Court in New York City on Nov. 13, 2023. (ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

After high school, he attended Columbia University in Manhattan and even drove a yellow taxi cab while pursuing his undergraduate degree. While hearing a case in 2012 related to New York City taxi cabs, Engoron stated he loved his time as a cab driver because he learned "how to drive like a maniac without being caught," according to ABC News.

Years later, he attended the New York University School of Law, graduating in 1979.

Immediately after receiving his law degree, he joined the law firm Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell & Weyher as an associate, crossing paths with the late Judith Kaye, who served as chief judge of the State of New York Court of Appeals. Engoron departed the firm to join another firm, Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn, as an associate in 1981.

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Engoron, though, left that firm in 1983 to pursue a career in the music industry, ABC News reported. For years, he worked as a musical instructor.

"I have had a lot of lawyers who got to another firm, but he's the only one who told me he was leaving to pursue music," James Janowitz, a partner at Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn, told ABC News last year.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron, right, ruled on Friday that former President Trump must pay over $350 million in damages to the state of New York as the result of his civil fraud trial. (Fox News)

He ultimately returned to the law profession when, in 1991, he became a principal law clerk for New York Supreme Court Justice Martin Schoenfield. He remained in that position for 11 years.

In 2003, Engoron became a judge on the New York City Civil Court and, a decade later, he was appointed to be an acting justice of the state’s trial court. In 2015, he ran unopposed for a permanent spot on the court.

According to his official New York court biography, Engoron remains a member of the New York County Lawyers Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, Brehon Law Society, Columbia College and NYU Law Alumni Associations, Jewish Lawyers Guild and New York Women's Bar Association.

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Meanwhile, last week, in his most high-profile case, Engoron barred Trump from operating his business in New York for three years and ordered the former president to pay $355 million in damages. The case was initiated after Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit alleging Trump inflated his assets and committed fraud.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sits in the courtroom during the fraud trial of former President Trump on Nov. 3, 2023. After Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his ruling last week, James claimed victory and stated that "justice has been served," adding that it was a "tremendous victory" for the state and nation. (Dave Sanders-Pool/Getty Images)

In a 92-page decision, Engoron ruled that Trump and the defendants were liable for "persistent and repeated fraud," "falsifying business records," "issuing false financial statements," "conspiracy to falsify false financial statements," "insurance fraud," and "conspiracy to commit insurance fraud."

Engoron took time in the ruling to criticize Trump and his participation in the trial, stating that he "rarely responded to the questions asked, and he frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches on issues far beyond the scope of the trial." 

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"His refusal to answer the questions directly, or in some cases, at all, severely compromised his credibility," Engoron wrote. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., right, blasted New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, left, in an ethics complaint filed late last year. (Getty Images)

Over the course of the trial late last year, Trump and his allies repeatedly criticized Engoron — who throughout his career has exclusively donated to Democrats — over his handling of the case. 

"We shouldn’t be having a case here because we have a disclaimer clause that every court holds up except this judge," Trump said in November. "They're trying to hurt me — especially her, for political reasons," Trump added in reference to James.

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Additionally, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed an ethics complaint against Engoron in November, alleging he had exhibited "inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance" in the case.

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.