Background
Futey was born to parents Petro and Maria Futey in 1939 in Buchach, Ukraine.
Futey was born to parents Petro and Maria Futey in 1939 in Buchach, Ukraine.
In 1943, his family moved to refugee camps in Germany and later immigrated to Argentina, where Futey graduated from high school.
In 1957, his family moved to the United States. He became a naturalized United States. citizen in 1962. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University in 1962.
He was a teacher at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio from 1962 to 1966, receiving a Master of Arts from Western Reserve University in 1964.
He was then the chief assistant police prosecutor of Cleveland from 1972 to 1974. In 1974, Futey also unsuccessfully ran for Congress as an independent, garnering 1.7% of the vote.
He was Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States from May 1984 until his appointment to the federal bench in 1987. On either January 30, 1987, or February 2, 1987, Futey was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States Claims Court vacated by Philip R. Miller.
Futey was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 7, 1987, and received his commission on May 7, 1987.
He assumed senior status on May 6, 2002. Futey has lectured on Constitutional Law at the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, at the University of Passau in Germany, and at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Lviv University in Ukraine. He is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio, the United States. District Court of Northern Ohio, and the District of Columbia.
Futey married Ukrainian American Myroslava "Myra" Fur, with whom he has three children.
Futey is actively involved with Democratization and Rule of Law programs organized by the Judicial Conference of the United States, the United States Department of State, and the American Bar Association in Ukraine and Russia. He has participated in judicial exchange programs, seminars, and workshops and has been a consultant to the working group on Ukraine"s Constitution and Ukrainian Parliament.
Futey is an advisor to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (International Foundation for Electoral Systems). Futey is fluent in Ukrainian and has visited regularly.
He was in Ukraine when the pro-European Union protests began in November 2013.
He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and the Ukrainian American Bar Association.