Mr. Dinowitz earned the largest sum in the case of Jesse Oppenheim, a 92-year-old woman from Riverdale suffering from dementia. As court evaluator, Mr. Dinowitz was charged with determining whether the court should appoint a guardian to manage Ms. Oppenheim’s affairs. Mr. Dinowitz charged $325 per hour for his services on the case, making $4,650 in total.

He recommended that the court appoint a guardian. Judge Malave-Gonzalez agreed, and ordered that Ms. Oppenheim’s $1.5 million estate be managed by Carl Lucas, who is active in Bronx politics and has served as treasurer of several judgeship campaigns. 

In an interview with The Riverdale Press, Mr. Dinowitz said he saw no conflict between his political activities and accepting work as a court appointee. He said he cannot maintain a full-time law practice given his duties as an assemblyman, and therefore, he welcomes opportunities to take one-off cases.

“Most of the work can be done on the weekend or in the evening,” he said. “It’s a way to do something valuable and beneficial.”

People with political clout should neither be favored nor excluded from such court appointments, Mr. Dinowitz said. “If you do a good job, and if you’re not a pig about it, then I don’t see the problem.”

When asked why he thought Judge Malave-Gonzalez appointed him more often than anyone else, Mr. Dinowitz simply said, “I’m very good.”

Carl Lucas

Carl Lucas has received the second-highest number of appointments from Judge Malave-Gonzalez, earning a total of $17,745 to date. In addition to his work on judgeship campaigns, Mr. Lucas also served as treasurer on the City Council campaign of Alberto Torres, the law partner of then-Democratic Party boss Roberto Ramirez.

Mr. Lucas’ compensation has yet to be approved for the Oppenheim case, but based on an analysis of past guardianship fees, he stands to earn approximately $40,000. Mr. Lucas is also popular with other Bronx judges, receiving payments totaling more than $62,000 in 2012.

He has also done well in Surrogate’s Court, where Judge Malave-Gonzalez now presides. Records show he earned another $132,030 in fees from cases doled out there over the past four years.