JUDGE READY TO RETIRE GAVEL AFTER CAREER ON BENCH.(Capital Region)

Byline: CAROL DEMARE Staff writer

When state Supreme Court Justice Daniel H. Prior Jr. was a schoolboy he remembers his father, a well-known Albany attorney, defended Prohibition-era gangster Legs Diamond.

But at that time the younger Prior wasn't considering a law career.

"I initially was going to be a teacher when I was a freshman and sophomore" at Vincentian Institute in Albany, Prior said Tuesday. "Then, somewhere along the way, I changed my mind, and I told my father I'd like to take up law, and it made him very happy."

On Dec. 31, Prior, a 74-year-old Democrat, retires after nearly 14 years on the bench. His friends are honoring him …