Dearie began his legal career at
Shearman & Sterling in 1969. Dearie subsequently worked as an
Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where he served in the Appeals Division from 1971 to 1974, as the Chief of the General Crimes Section from 1974 to 1976, Head Chief of the Office's Criminal Division from 1976-1977, and briefly as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney for the District in 1977. He worked in private practice until 1980 before serving as the Chief Assistant United States Attorney until 1982, when he was appointed the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York by President
Ronald Reagan, serving from 1982 to 1986, before being appointed to the federal bench, by the recommendation of
New York Senator
Al D'Amato.
Federal judicial service Dearie was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan on February 3, 1986, to the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate on March 14, 1986, and received his commission on March 19, 1986. He took
senior status on April 3, 2011, and was succeeded by Judge
Pamela K. Chen in March 2013. He remained an active judge on the Eastern District Court; according to a court official, he is planning to go on inactive status at the end of 2022. On July 2, 2012, Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Roberts appointed Dearie to a seven-year term on the
United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In September 2022, Dearie was one of two candidates proposed by former President
Donald Trump as a special master to review documents seized in the
FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. The
United States Department of Justice announced that it would accept him. He was appointed special master by Judge
Aileen Cannon on September 15, 2022. On September 23, Dearie ordered Trump's legal defense to submit a
sworn declaration supporting their claims that the FBI had planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago. ==References==