Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division Second Judicial DepartmentSupreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division Second Judicial Department
Calendars Decisions

Justices of the Court

Associate Justice Colleen D. Duffy

Judicial Offices

APPELLATE DIVISION
Associate Justice, Appellate Division, Second Department
• Appointed January 2014 by the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York State

SUPREME COURT
Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, 9th Judicial District
• Elected November 2010
• Appointed January 2010 by the Honorable David A. Patterson, then Governor of New York State Acting Supreme Court Justice
• Designated 2008

FAMILY COURT
Family Court Judge
• Elected November 2005
• Designated Acting Supreme Court Justice 2008

Acting Family Court Judge
• Designated 2003

CITY COURT OF MOUNT VERNON
City Court Judge
• Elected November 1998
• Appointed by the Honorable Ernest D. Davis, Mayor, Mount Vernon, New York, February 1998

Other Professional Experience

Adjunct Professor, SUNY Purchase
• January 2013-present

City Councilwoman, Mount Vernon,
• Elected November 1995

Assistant General Counsel, Unilever United States, Inc., 1995-1998

Litigation Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, 1989-1995

Admission to the Bar

New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, February 1990

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, February 1990

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, February 1990

Education

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, Juris Doctorate (1989)

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, Master of Science (1983)

COLLEGE OF NEW ROCHELLE SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES, Bachelor of Arts, English & Communication Arts, Magna cum laude (1981)

Publications & Leading Cases

“He Who Represents Himself Has a Fool for a Client: The Right to Counsel and the Right to Self Representation in New York,”  Albany Law Review, 2022/2023, Vol. 85, No. 4 (co-author with Melany Gray)

“The State of Physical Injury and Serious Physical Injury in New York Criminal Law,”  Albany Law Review, 2017/2018, Vol. 81, No. 4 (co-author with Ivy Ozer)

“Entertainment,” Chapter 123, Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (Robert L. Haig, ed., Fourth ed. Thomson Reuters 2015)

“Trial Elements,” Chapter 4, Bench Book for Trial Judges, New York (2013).

“The Admissibility of Expert Opinion and the Bases of Expert Opinion in Sex Offender Civil Management Trials in New York” 75 Albany Law Review, 763 (2012)

Professional & Civic Activities

President and Founding Member of the Society of Irish American Lawyers

Member, New York State Bar Association, Westchester County Bar Association, and Mount Vernon Bar Association

Guest Lecturer and speaker at various colleges and organizations

Elected Treasurer, Executive Board College of New Rochelle Alumnae Association, 1999 - 2002

Mount Vernon Zoning Board of Appeals Commissioner January 1989- December 1995

Member of Order of the Barrister, 1989, and Kappa Gamma Pi (National Catholic Women’s Honor Society)