Sonia Sotomayor

Biographical Information

"Since October 7, 1998, Sonia Sotomayor has been a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From October 2, 1992 until her recent appointment, she served as a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Judge Sotomayor began her legal career in 1979 as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County. In 1984 and until her first judicial appointment, she practiced with the law firm of Pavia & Harcourt as an associate and later partner. Her focus at the firm was on intellectual property issues and international litigation and arbitration of commercial and commodity export trading cases. She also served as a member of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and was formerly on the Board of Directors of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Maternity Center Association.

After graduating from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1976, Judge Sotomayor attended Yale Law School. At Yale, she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order. In 1999, Judge Sotomayor received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Herbert H. Lehman College; in 2001 she received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Princeton University and Brooklyn Law School; in 2003 she received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Pace University School of Law and in 2006 she received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Hofstra University. Judge Sotomayor was an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law from 1998 to 2007 and is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School since 1999.

Judge Sotomayor is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York City Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage, the National Association of Women Judges and the American Philosophical Society. Judge Sotomayor is a frequent speaker and panelist at bar conferences and law schools.

Judge Sotomayor is a native of the Bronx and is fluent in both English and Spanish."  (from 2d Circuit website: http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/  )

"Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born in Bronx, New York, on June 25, 1954. She earned a B.A. in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the university’s highest academic honor. In 1979, she earned a J.D. from Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office from 1979-1984. She then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt, where she served as an associate and then partner from 1984-1992. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992-1998. She served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998-2009. President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role on August 8, 2009." (from Supreme Court Website: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/)

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