Rose H. Sconiers

Justice Rose H. Sconiers was appointed to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, by Governor David A. Patterson on February 1, 2010. She was elected to the New York State Supreme Court in 1993 and re-elected in 2007. She is a former Judge of The City Court of Buffalo; former Executive Attorney of The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., former Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Buffalo and a 1973 graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law. She was admitted to the State Bar in 1974 and to the U.S. Federal District Court in 1975. In addition, she is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Sconiers was appointed by Chief Judge Lippman to Chair the statewide Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities. She is an emeritus member of the University of Buffalo Council and a past President of the New York State Association of Council Members and College Trustees. She was appointed by the former Chief Judge of New York State to the Unified Court System Advisory Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure, the Jury Project and the Commission on Fiduciary Appointments. Justice Sconiers is past President of the University of Buffalo Law Alumni Association and a former member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Defenders Association. Justice Sconiers is the former President of The Association of Justices of The Supreme Court of The State of New York, former Presiding member of the Judicial Council of The New York State Bar Association and a former delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Judges of The American Bar Association. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Erie County Bar Foundation, a former member of the Erie County Bar Association Grievance Committee and past Chairman of the Lawyer Referral Service Committee and Law Day Committee. She also served on the Bar’s Special Committee to Study the Feasibility of Creating a Police Civilian Review Board for the Buffalo Police Department, Practice and Procedure in City Court Committee, Judiciary Committee and Ethics Committee. Justice Sconiers is a past President of The Supreme Court Justice Association, Eighth Judicial District; past President of the Buffalo Chapter, National Bar Association; past Chairperson, Friends of the School of Architecture and Environmental Design at SUNY; past Vice-Chairperson, Women for Downtown; past President, Community Planning and Assistance Center for Western New York (CPAC); past Chairperson of the 13th Street Multi-Purpose Center, Inc., in Niagara Falls, New York, and past President of the Erie County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. Justice Sconiers is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo Niagara Division of the American Heart Association, the Board of Directors of Artpark & Company, the Board of Trustees of Children’s Hospital, the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’ School for the Deaf and Board of Directors of the Buffalo Chapter, American Red Cross. Justice Sconiers is the recipient of many honors and awards, including among others, The University of Buffalo Law Alumni Association Distinguished Alumna Award, the YWCA Leader Luncheon Outstanding Achievement Award and the Buffalo Urban League Evans/Young Award. She was inducted into the Western New York Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001 and she received the 2008 Outstanding Jurist Award from the Bar Association of Erie County. Justice Sconiers is married to Attorney, Lester G. Sconiers and the mother of a daughter, Lisa Rose, a son, Lester, Jr., and grandson, Julian Alexander.