Shirley Troutman (born 1959 or 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as an

associate judge An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some st ...

of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

since 2022. She served as an associate justice of the

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York is the intermediate appellate court in New York State. The state is geographically divided into four judicial departments of the Appellate Division. The full title of each is, u ...

from 2016 to 2022.

Education

Troutman received her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

in 1982 and her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...

Career

During her legal career, Troutman served as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the Western District of New York, as an assistant attorney general for the State of New York and an assistant district attorney for Erie County. She has served as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

University at Buffalo Law School The University at Buffalo School of Law (also known as State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, or SUNY Buffalo Law School) is the law school of the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1887, and affiliated with Niagara University until 1 ...

and the

Buffalo State College The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

Judicial service

Troutman was elected to the Buffalo City Court in 1994. She then served as a judge of the Erie County Court from 2003 to 2009. She later served as a justice of the Supreme Court, 8th Judicial District from 2010 to 2016. In February 2016, Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

appointed Troutman to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department.

New York Court of Appeals service

In April 2021, Troutman was one of seven nominees recommended to Governor

to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge

Leslie Stein Leslie E. Stein (born 1956) is a former judge on New York State's Court of Appeals. Stein was appointed to the court by Governor Andrew Cuomo in late 2014, and was confirmed by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2015. Early life The daught ...

; that seat was eventually filled by Madeline Singas. On November 24, 2021, Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...

nominated Troutman to the seat on the

vacated by Judge Eugene M. Fahey when he retired on December 31, 2021. The Senate confirmed her on January 12, 2022. Her formal investiture ceremony took place on April 5, 2022. Troutman is the second

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman to serve on the state court of appeals. On March 24, 2023, Troutman was selected as a finalist under consideration for appointment to the New York Court of Appeals, this time for the position of chief judge following the retirement of Chief Judge

Janet DiFiore Janet Marie DiFiore (born August 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and judge who served as the Chief Judge of New York Court of Appeals from 2016 to 2022. DiFiore was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and graduated from Long Island University and S ...

and the subsequent rejection of Justice Hector LaSalle's nomination to that seat by the New York State Senate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Troutman, Shirley Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth uncertain 20th-century New York state court judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges African-American judges Albany Law School alumni Assistant United States attorneys Buffalo State College faculty County district attorneys in New York (state) Judges of the New York Court of Appeals New York state court judges New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department justices University at Buffalo alumni University at Buffalo faculty