Judge Felix J. Catena: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. Felix J. Catena is a judge for the Montgomery County Court in the Fourth Judicial District of New York. Judge Catena was first appointed to the County Court by former Governor George Pataki in 1999. The following year, he was then elected to the County Court bench and was subsequently re-elected to the seat in 2010.

During his tenure on the bench, Judge Catena was designated an acting surrogate and Family Court judge in 1999 and was then appointed to serve in 2003 as an Acting Justice of the Montgomery County Supreme Court by the Hon. Jonathan Lippman, former Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York. In 2019, Judge Catena was appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks to serve as the Administrative Judge for the Fourth Judicial District. In this capacity, Judge Catena’s responsibilities include managing the eleven counties associated with the Fourth Judicial District. He succeeded the Hon. Vito C. Caruso as Administrative Judge. Prior to becoming a County Court judge, he served as a judge for the Amsterdam City Court from 1995 to 1999.

Judge Catena received his B.A. from American University in 1979. He went on to earn his J.D. from California Western School of Law in 1985.

Catena began his legal career as a clerk for the law firm Caputo, Aulisi, and Skoda and would eventually practice as an associate at the firm. Catena remained in private practice until 1999.

It was during that same time, in 1987, that Catena became a prosecuting attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Solicitor’s Office, where he helped prosecute U.S. labor law violations. In 1990, he joined the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, working as an assistant district attorney until then becoming corporation counsel for the City of Amsterdam in 1992.

While on the County Court bench, Judge Catena was instrumental in helping to establish several problem-solving courts in the Fourth Judicial District, including an opioid intervention court and a mental health court. He also served as the presiding judge for the Drug Treatment Court and the Mental Health Treatment Court in Montgomery County.

He has served as a member of the New York State Association of Treatment Court Professionals, Inc., the New York State County Court Judges Association, the Fulton County Bar Association, and was the past president of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He has also served on the New York State Advisory Committee on Evidence and the New York State Criminal Jury Instruction Committee.

Judge Catena’s family contains a long-line of judges and justices. His grandfather, the late Hon. Felix J. Aulisi, served as a surrogate and judge for the Montgomery County Court and was also a Justice of the New York Supreme Court and a Justice of the Appellate Division. Judge Catena’s grandfather immigrated to the United States from Italy when he was twelve years old, where he settled in Amsterdam, New York to work in his father's shoemaker shop. Justice Aulisi’s judicial career began in 1949 and ended upon his retirement in 1971. Their lineage of family judges also includes Judge Catena’s great uncle, the Hon. Arthur Aulisi, who was also a New York Supreme Court Justice, two of his uncle’s, the Hon. Michael J. Riccio, and the Hon. Gene L. Catena, who both served as judges in Montgomery County, and his cousin, the Hon. Richard T. Aulisi, who has served as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court.