ALBANY - Four appeals judges and three prominent attorneys have made the short list of nominees to preside over New York’s influential top court and administer the state’s sprawling court system.

The Commission on Judicial Nomination announced Monday, without recommendation, seven “well qualified” candidates for chief judge of the Court of Appeals. Gov. David Paterson must choose one from the list by Jan. 15, subject to Senate confirmation, for a 14-year term.

Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield said the list didn’t reflect the diversity Paterson would like to see. All are men. Six are white.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the list other than a couple preliminary - just comments to me from people who have seen the list that disturbed me quite frankly,” Paterson told reporters Monday. When pressed to explain, he said, “I’m just saying that was my reaction. I can’t be specific because I haven’t read the list.”

The New York judiciary handles 4 million cases a year at 363 courthouses with a $2 billion budget. The Court of Appeals is considered among the most important state courts in the country, with a national reputation for landmark rulings.

Judges Theodore Jones Jr. and Eugene Pigott Jr. are already associates on the seven-member Court of Appeals. Both are former trial and midlevel appeals court judges and Army veterans who went to Vietnam.

Jones, 64, from Brooklyn, was named to the top court in 2007 by former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer. He was the only African American listed. Pigott, 62, from Buffalo, was nominated to the Court of Appeals in 2006 by former Republican Gov. George Pataki.

The list included Appellate Division justices Jonathan Lippman and Steven Fisher. Lippman, 63, is presiding justice at the midlevel appeals court in Manhattan. A former state claims court judge, he was chief administrative judge of the court system from 1996 to 2007.

Fisher, 62, a former New York City prosecutor and trial judge, joined the midlevel appeals court in Brooklyn in 2004. He was recommended five times previously for a seat on the Court of Appeals.

Attorneys George Carpinello, 58, of Albany, Evan A. Davis, 64, of New York City, and Peter Zimroth, 65, of New York City, are all partners in law firms.

Carpinello, a former Albany Law School professor, was recommended three times previously.

Davis, who for five years was counsel to Gov. Mario Cuomo, is former president of the New York City Bar Association.

Zimroth, a former federal and New York City prosecutor, has been director of the New York State Capital Defender Office since 2000.

Judge Judith Kaye, 70, has to retire Dec. 30 after 15 years as chief judge and 25 years on the Court of Appeals. The former commercial litigator oversaw administrative reforms that ranged from expanding jury pool selections to requiring all town and village courts to keep records. She built a reputation for clear, well reasoned rulings.

Her authored decisions included the 1999 unanimous ruling that struck down the plea bargaining provisions of the state death penalty law. She also wrote the landmark 2003 ruling that found the state’s education funding system failed to provide New York City schoolchildren with a “sound, basic education.”

She was the first woman named to the court and named chief judge. Three associate judges are women.

Stephen Younger, counsel to the commission, declined to comment on the applicants and how they were selected. “The process by statute is all confidential,” he said.

Several other groups will review, interview and rate all seven candidates in December, including associations of trial lawyers, women attorneys, New York City lawyers and black attorneys.

Brooklyn Law School Professor William Hellerstein, who made previous short lists, said this is a group with great resumes.

“It’s a pretty high caliber group of people,” he said. “These are all people I respect in terms of their legal acumen and knowledge.”