Hon. Loretta A. Preska

April 17, 2024

Judge Loretta A. Preska was nominated to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York in 1992 by President George H. W. Bush, and in 2009, she became Chief Judge (2009-2016).  Judge Preska graduated from Fordham Law School in 1973 and received her L.L.M. from New York University School of Law. She is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Federal Bar Council, the New York County Lawyers Association, and the New York State Bar Association. She served as a member of the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference of the United States, as chair of the Benchbook Advisory Committee, the Board of Directors of the Federal Judicial Center, and has served on the Advisory Board of the New York Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Preska’s private practice career began at Cahill Gordon, where she was the only woman summer associate in her class. She primarily practiced commercial litigation in the federal courts until her appointment.