| 1 | Name: | The Honorable Judith S. Kaye | |
| Institution: | Skadden, Arps; Court of Appeals, State of New York | ||
| Year Elected: | 2003 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 502. Physicians, Theologians, Lawyers, Jurists, Architects, and Members of Other Professions | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1938 | ||
| Death Date: | January 7, 2016 | ||
Judith S. Kaye joined Skadden Arps's Litigation Group in 2009. Before joining the firm she served as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals for 15 years. She was appointed New York's Chief Judge in 1993 by Governor Mario M. Cuomo and was the first woman to occupy that post. The state's longest-serving chief judge, she was reappointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2007 and served until reaching mandatory retirement age in December 2008. She was also the first woman appointed to the State's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which she joined in 1983. As New York's top judicial officer, Judge Kaye presided over the seven-member Court of Appeals and headed the State's Unified Court System, with more than 1,200 State-paid judges in 363 courthouses statewide. Her posts have included: Chair of the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children; Founding Member and Honorary Chair, Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (JALBCA); member of the Board of Editors, New York State Bar Journal; and Trustee, The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation. She had been President of the Conference of Chief Justices and Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts (2002-03). She authored numerous publications and received several honorary degrees and many awards. Born in Monticello, New York, Judge Kaye is a 1958 graduate of Barnard College and a 1962 cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law. She died January 7, 2016, at age 77, at her home in Manhattan. | |||