Barbara Underwood
Barbara Underwood | |
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66th Attorney General of New York | |
Assumed office May 22, 2018 Acting: May 8, 2018 – May 22, 2018 |
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Governor | Andrew Cuomo |
Preceded by | Eric Schneiderman |
Succeeded by | Letitia James (Elect) |
Solicitor General of New York | |
Assumed office January 1, 2007 |
|
Governor | Eliot Spitzer David Paterson Andrew Cuomo |
Preceded by | Caitlin Halligan |
Solicitor General of the United States Acting |
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In office January 20, 2001 – June 11, 2001 |
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President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Seth P. Waxman |
Succeeded by | Theodore Olson |
Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States | |
In office March 23, 1998 – January 20, 2001 |
|
President | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | Seth P. Waxman |
Succeeded by | Paul Clement |
Personal details | |
Born | Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
August 16, 1944
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Martin Halpern (m. 1985) |
Education | Harvard University (BA) Georgetown University (JD) |
Barbara Dale Underwood (born August 16, 1944) is an American lawyer serving as the New York State Attorney General since May 8, 2018. She previously served as the Solicitor General of New York, first appointed to the position by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in January 2007, and reappointed in 2011 by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. On May 8, 2018, she became Acting Attorney General following her predecessor's resignation. On May 22, 2018, the New York State Legislature appointed her Attorney General. Prior to the appointment, Underwood announced she would not run as a candidate for a full term and thus she will serve until December 31, 2018.
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Early life
Underwood was born in Evansville, Indiana, to Dr. Robert Underwood and Mildred Kinstein Underwood. She grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, and is the eldest of three daughters.[1] Underwood earned an A.B. magna cum laude from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1966 and received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969.
While Underwood was a student at Radcliffe in 1963, she worked at WJRZ as news editor and got engaged to Howard Allen Cohen, a second year student at Rutgers Law School, who was also working at WJRZ.[2]
Legal career
After graduation, Underwood clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and then Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court from 1971 to 1972.[3] After leaving the Court, Underwood was a law professor for 10 years at the Yale Law School, from 1972 to 1982. She also has taught at Brooklyn Law School and at New York University School of Law.
Underwood left academia to work in the Kings County District Attorney's Office.[4] She later served in the District Attorneys for three different counties in New York City: she was an Assistant District Attorney in New York County, Chief of Appeals and Counsel to the District Attorney in Kings County (Brooklyn), and Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Legal Affairs in Queens County. She then served as Chief Assistant United States Attorney and later Counsel to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.[5][6]
In 1998, Underwood was appointed by United States Attorney General Janet Reno to be Principal Deputy Solicitor General under Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman.[7][1] Underwood held that position for three years, and then served as Acting Solicitor General from January to June 2001, making her the first woman to act as Solicitor General.[8] After working in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York for several years, in 2007 she was appointed Solicitor General of the State of New York, a position she held under two state Attorneys General.[9] She has argued twenty cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and many cases before the federal and state appellate courts.[10][11]
She became Acting Attorney General on May 8, 2018, following the resignation of Eric Schneiderman.[12] The State Legislature picked Underwood as the replacement to fill the remainder of Schneiderman's term on May 22, 2018.[13] Underwood pledged not to seek elected office and fill out the remainder of Schneiderman's term until an elected successor is sworn in.[14] As Attorney General, Underwood sued Donald Trump and his foundation, Donald J. Trump Foundation, for "a pattern of persistent illegal conduct."[15][16]
Honors and awards
In 2012, the American Inns of Court presented her with its Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit, honoring her mentorship of attorneys throughout her career.[17] In May 2016, Radcliffe College conferred on her an honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa.[18][19]
Family
Underwood has lived in New York City since 1982. She is married to Martin Halpern, former Brandeis University professor of playwriting and dramatic literature.[20][1] They live in Brooklyn and have one son, Robert, born in 1986.[1] Underwood had one previous marriage which ended in divorce.[1] Underwood is Jewish.
References
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- ↑ Colby Hamilton. "Lawmakers Select Underwood as Interim Attorney General." New York Law Journal. May 22, 2018.
- ↑ Karen Dewitt "Barbara Underwood named interim NYS Attorney General" WXXI News May 22, 2018
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- ↑ Colby Hamilton. "Lawmakers Select Underwood as Interim Attorney General." New York Law Journal. May 22, 2018.
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Selected publications
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Legal offices | ||
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Preceded by | Solicitor General of the United States Acting 2001 |
Succeeded by Theodore Olson |
Preceded by | Solicitor General of New York 2007–2018 |
Vacant |
Preceded by | Attorney General of New York 2018–present |
Succeeded by Letitia James Elect |
- Use mdy dates from May 2018
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- 1944 births
- American women lawyers
- Assistant United States Attorneys
- Georgetown University Law Center alumni
- Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Living people
- New York State Attorneys General
- People from Belleville, New Jersey
- People from Brooklyn
- People from Evansville, Indiana
- Radcliffe College alumni
- Solicitors General of New York (state)
- United States constitutional law scholars
- United States Solicitors General
- Yale Law School faculty