Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Interviewed by Matthew Shahabian '11

Watch the full video or read the transcript (PDF: 232.65 KB).

About the Interview

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was interviewed on November 3, 2017, in the Lawyers' Lounge of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, DC. The interview was conducted by Matthew Shahabian '11, a senior associate, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Biography

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 25, 1954. She earned a BA in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the university’s highest academic honor. In 1979, she earned a JD from Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office from 1979 to 1984. She then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt, where she served as an associate and then partner from 1984 to 1992. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the US District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992 to 1998. She served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998 to 2009. President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role August 8, 2009.

Video Excerpts

On how the practice of law has changed

 

On why she didn't clerk

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