Gov. David Paterson has selected Hon. Jonathan Lippman, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, 1st Department, of state Supreme Court as the next chief judge of New York.

If confirmed by the state Senate, Lippman will succeed Hon. Judith Kaye, chief judge of the state Court of Appeals since 1993, who was forced to retire Dec. 31 having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Lippman, the longest-tenured chief administrative judge, serving from 1996-2007, is a New York City Democrat whose experience includes a stint as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hon. Samuel Spiegel in the mid-1970s.

If past history is any indicator, Lippman should meet with little resistance in the Senate confirmation process - particularly with Democrats in control of the Senate. In the 32-year history of the gubernatorial nomination process for chief judges, the Senate has never turned a candidate away.

Paterson had voiced strong displeasure over the lack of diversity among the seven candidates submitted to him for consideration, and has said he will make recommendations to revise the process by which candidates are selected by the Commission on Judicial Nomination.

Among the candidates Lippman beat out for the top spot on the Court of Appeals was former Erie County attorney Eugene Pigott Jr. A graduate of the University at Buffalo Law School, the Grand Island resident serves as an associate judge on the court.

Lippman, if confirmed, will become the first New York chief judge not to be promoted from within in more than 100 years.

Under the same restrictions that forced Kaye's retirement, Lippman, 63, would be eligible to serve less than half of his 14-year term and would be forced to retire Dec. 31, 2015.