FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 6, 2009
GOVERNOR PATERSON APPOINTS JUSTICE SANDRA L. SGROI TO FILL AN APPELLATE COURT VACANCY IN THE SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
Governor David A. Paterson announced the appointment of Justice Sandra L. Sgroi to fill a vacancy in the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.
"I am proud to nominate such an accomplished and respected jurist to the Appellate Division," Governor Paterson said. "Justice Sgroi's experience and dedication on the bench will be a tremendous addition to the Appellate Division."
Justice Sgroi has been a Supreme Court Justice in Suffolk County since January 2001. Her responsibilities include presiding over the Special Guardianship Part, as well as certain civil matters, including commercial and matrimonial cases. She served as Assistant and then Town Attorney of Smithtown, beginning in 1984, and maintained her private law practice from 1984 through 1996, concentrating in estate matters, family law, real estate law and elder law. From 1991 until 1997, Justice Sgroi was a Councilwoman for the Town of Smithtown. From 1997 through 2000, Justice Sgroi served as a District Court Judge, where she presided over criminal misdemeanor matters and handled criminal arraignments, landlord/tenant disputes, town ordinance cases and civil small claims.
Justice Sgroi graduated magna cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974. She received her law degree from Hofstra University School of Law in 1978.
The annual salary for a Justice of the Appellate Division is $144,000. This appointment does not require Senate confirmation.