Ronnie Abrams

Ronnie Abrams (born June 3, 1968 in New York City, New York) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ronnie Abrams
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Assumed office
March 23, 2012
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byLewis A. Kaplan
Personal details
Born (1968-06-03) June 3, 1968
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)Greg Andres (m. 2001)
MotherEfrat Abrams
FatherFloyd Abrams
RelativesDan Abrams (brother)
Alma materCornell University (B.A.)
Yale Law School (J.D.)
OccupationJudge

Early life and education

Abrams was one of two children born to Efrat Abrams and Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment lawyer. Her brother, Dan Abrams, is a television personality and internet entrepreneur who currently serves as legal analyst for Good Morning America.[1][2] She was raised in New York City's Upper East Side, where she attended the Dalton School.[3] Abrams received a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1990. In 1993, she received a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.[4] After completing law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas P. Griesa of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[4][5]

Professional career

From 1998 to 2008, Abrams worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, where she served as Chief of the General Crimes Unit from 2005 to 2007 and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 2007 to 2008. She received the United States Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance for two cases. The first case involved the convictions of members of a Colombian gang wanted for the murder of a New York City police detective and some 100 armed robberies; the second case was for the convictions of leaders of the Bloods gang.[6] In 2008, Abrams returned to Davis Polk as Special Counsel for Pro Bono. She had previously worked at the firm as a litigation associate from 1994 to 1998.[4] While at Davis Polk, Ms. Abrams served as Counsel to the New York State Justice Task Force, a task force created by New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and make recommendations for changes to safeguard against such convictions in the future.[7] Abrams is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, where she teaches about investigating and prosecuting federal criminal cases.[6][5]

Federal judicial service

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recommended Abrams to fill a judicial vacancy on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[2] On July 28, 2011, President Barack Obama formally nominated Abrams to the Southern District of New York.[4] She replaced Judge Lewis A. Kaplan who took senior status in 2011. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on October 4, 2011, and reported her nomination to the floor on November 3, 2011. On March 22, 2012, the Senate confirmed Abrams in a 96–2 vote.[8] She received her commission on March 23, 2012.[5]

In 2015, Judge Abrams, together with another judge, created and began to run the "Young Adult Opportunity Program," a judicially supervised pretrial program for non-violent young adults charged in the Southern District of New York. The Program provides young adult defendants with access to employment, counseling, and treatment resources. Program participants, if they are successful, may receive a shorter sentence, or even a reduction, deferral or dismissal of the charges against them.[9]

Notable cases

In October 2013, Carmen Segarra filed suit against the Federal Reserve in an action Judge Abrams presided over, alleging that she was terminated due to reporting to her superiors that the Goldman Sachs Group did not have a firmwide conflict-of-interest policy. Segarra alleged that her termination violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1831j.[10] On April 23, 2014, Judge Abrams dismissed the suit.[11][12] The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal, calling some of Segarra's arguments, "entirely speculative, meritless and frankly quite silly." [13]

In 2016, Abrams was assigned to preside over a case in which Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are accused by the plaintiff of having raped her in the 1990s, when the plaintiff was thirteen years old.[14] The complaint was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by the Plaintiff in September 2016.

In January 2017, Abrams was assigned to preside over a pending case in which Donald Trump was sued by a nonprofit group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, over an alleged violation by Trump of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution.[15][16][17][18][19] On July 11, 2017, Judge Abrams recused herself from the case when her husband, Greg Andres, began talks to join Special Counsel Robert Mueller's staff investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election.[20]

In April 2018, Judge Abrams presided over the trial of an ex-U.S. Army Sergeant and two other men who were convicted of participating in a murder for hire of a woman in the Philippines.[21] The primary cooperating witness was Paul Le Roux, a notorious crime lord who testified about the covert world of mercenary work as well as selling missile technology to Iran and smuggling weapons to rebels and warlords.[22]

In July 2018, Judge Abrams presided over the trial in an action brought by Enrichetta Ravina, a former finance professor at Columbia University's Business School against Columbia and a more senior tenured professor, Geert Bekaert, for sex discrimination and retaliation. The jury found that Ravina had not been sexually harassed but that she had been retaliated against by Bekaert, who wrote at least 30 emails calling Ravina “evil” and “crazy,” including to a number of industry players at the Federal Reserve Bank, top-tier universities and economic journals.[23]

Personal life

Abrams and her husband, Greg Donald Andres, formerly a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell.[24] were married in 2001 by Judge Loretta A. Preska.[25] As of 2017, Andres served with Robert Mueller on the Special Counsel investigation.

References
  1. Dana, Rebecca (December 18, 2006). "The Abrams Family". The New York Observer. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  2. Kolker, Carlyn (July 28, 2011). "Abrams, Gillibrand's first judicial pick, nominated to bench". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  3. Schneider-Mayerson, Anna (May 2, 2005). "Ted Olson Joins Floyd Abrams In Time-Times Case". The New York Observer. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  4. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (July 28, 2011). "President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Court". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  5. "Abrams, Ronnie – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  6. "NY BigLaw Pro Bono Counsel Nominated for Federal Bench".
  7. http://www.nyjusticetaskforce.com/2009.07.15.NYLJ.Article.pdf
  8. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 112th Congress – 2nd Session". www.senate.gov.
  9. "Southern District Launches Program to Help Young Offenders".
  10. Ronnie Abrams, United States District Judge (April 23, 2014). "Opinion and Order, Case 1:13-cv-7173-RA Document 50". United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  11. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nyfed-goldman-lawsuit/new-york-fed-wins-dismissal-of-lawsuit-by-examiner-who-faulted-goldman-idUSBREA3M29V20140423
  12. https://www.propublica.org/article/judge-tosses-retaliation-lawsuit-by-fired-n.y.-fed-examiner
  13. https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-whistleblower/ex-ny-fed-bank-examiner-who-criticized-goldman-loses-appeal-idUSL1N11T1F820150923
  14. Cleary, Tom (22 June 2016). "Donald Trump Again Accused of Rape in New Federal Lawsuit [DOCUMENTS]".
  15. Fahrenthold, David A.; O'Connell, Jonathan (January 22, 2017). "Liberal watchdog group sues Trump, alleging he violated constitutional ban". The Washington Post.
  16. Fahrenthold, David A.; O'Connell, Jonathan (January 23, 2017). "What is the 'Emoluments Clause'? Does it apply to President Trump?". The Washington Post.
  17. "Lawsuit accusing Trump of violating the Constitution just expanded". Reuters. 2017-04-18. Archived from the original on 2017-04-21.
  18. LaFraniere, Sharon (2017-04-18). "Watchdog Group Expands Lawsuit Against Trump". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  19. "CREW v. Trump Adds New Plaintiff" (Press release). Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
  20. "Wife of new Mueller prosecutor just bailed as judge in 2 Trump cases".
  21. "Ex-U.S. Soldier, two others convicted of murder-for-hire plot in Philippines". Reuters. 2018-04-19.
  22. Feuer, Alan (2018-04-05). "In Spellbinding Testimony, Crime Lord Details Mayhem and Murders". The New York Times.
  23. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-27/columbia-bias-lawsuit-ends-in-1-3-million-payout-to-professor
  24. "Andres, Greg D. | Lawyers | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP".
  25.   (May 20, 2001). "WEDDINGS; Ronnie Abrams, Greg Andres". New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2011.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
Legal offices
Preceded by
Lewis A. Kaplan		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
2012–present		 Incumbent
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