Honorable Sharon A.M. Aarons (’89) has been appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to the Appellate Division-Third Department of the New York State Supreme Court. She will be the first black female justice on the Third Department bench.
In an interview with the New York Law Journal, Justice Aarons noted that while she bears the honor of the being the first, she is certain that she is “not the first qualified.”
Sharon Aarons (’89)
Justice Aarons has been a jurist since 2004 when she was first elected to the Bronx Civil Court. In 2009, she was elected as a Supreme Court Justice for the 12th Judicial District, where she currently presides. Before her election to the bench, Justice Aarons clerked for the Hon. Lee L. Holzman, and the Hon. Alexander W. Hunter, Jr.,. Her legal career also includes working at the Law Offices of William A. Gallina and the Legal Aid Society. She has been actively involved in professional and community organizations, such as the Highbridge Advisory Council Family Services, Inc. and the Black Bar Association of Bronx County.
The Third Department covers twenty-eight counties in the Eastern and Northern portions of Upstate New York, ranging from the mid-Hudson Valley to the Canadian Border. Justice Aarons will commute to Albany for her new position.