Published December 2013 Judicial Profile by Phil Schatz Hon. Loretta A. Preska Chief U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York hief Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) was raised in Delmar, N.Y., a small hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, a suburb of Albany. Her father, Victor, was an ordnance Cdesign engineer for Benet Laboratories at the Watervliet Arsenal. Her mother, Etta Mae, worked as a registered nurse at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. Judge Preska had a part-time job at the Delmar Public Library, a passion for chemistry, and a burgundy Mustang. She was captain of the field hockey team and president of the National Honor Society at Bethlehem Central High. Delmar is unquestionably a nice town (a 2005 CNN/ Money Magazine survey ranked it as one of the great American towns), but it’s a small place, and a homogeneous one. Girl Scouting opened up Judge Preska’s world. The Golden Age of Scouting In 1965, her district nominated her to attend the Senior Roundup in Idaho. The Senior Roundup was a big deal, a national aggregation of the most dedicated Senior Girl Scouts in the nation. Places were highly prized and hotly contested. The 1965 Roundup was the largest, and the last, national Roundup. The promotional jacket for the EP 12,000 Girl Scouts Sing America’s National Favorites,1 “presented for your listening pleasure by Ground Maxwell site became a city, vivid with flags of many nations House Coffee,” catches the tenor of the event: and regions. Senior Girl Scouts—12,000 strong—converged in The Scouts also engaged in trading S.W.A.P.S. —“spe- Farragut, Idaho, for the 1965 Girl Scout Senior cial whatchamacallits affectionately pinned somewhere” — Roundup, July 15–28. They came from all over this small items brought specifically for the purpose of trading, country and from 45 foreign countries. From places that represent something about the girl or her troop, home- as far flung as Australia. From Thailand and Tobago. town, or state.2 Judge Preska served as a radio reporter at the Roundup, sending bulletins to her hometown radio sta- They pitched their own tents. Cooked their own tion from a broadcast tent in Idaho. This was her first foray meals. And their beds were sleeping bags. The camp- into public relations, a skill that has come in handy since. Phil Schatz is a partner at Wrobel Schatz & Fox LLP, a litigation firm in New York City. He is a past president of the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the editorial board of The Federal Lawyer. In the summer of 1966, she was again selected out of ing, communication, and cooperation between nations many applicants to represent the Northeast region of the and cultures. Judge Preska says her time abroad further United States at the Girl Scouts East–West International expanded her understanding of people. During her junior Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. This trip was her first on year, Judge Preska became more involved in public speak- an airplane, and a further expansion of her worldview. ing and realized that her future lay in the law, not in the lab. Even her trusted chemistry professor, Sister Mary Rehfuss, Organic Chemistry and Debate at the College said she should work with people. of St. Rose Judge Preska’s graduating class was the last all-female That same year, she entered the College of Saint Rose class at St. Rose. The real value of a St. Rose degree, she on a merit scholarship to study organic chemistry. Saint notes, is the “moral com- Rose was then an all-female school. Founded in 1920 by the pass” it represents. St. Rose “If I had fallen asleep in Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet to train teachers, the sis- instills knowledge of right ters at Saint Rose sought to nurture critical thinking, good and wrong and a sense of 1973 and awakened in values, and responsible citizenship in a caring and diverse responsibility as a citizen of 2013, I wouldn’t have community of scholars. the world. “No one succeeds been a bit surprised to Judge Preska had a passion for chemistry and spent at St. Rose if they lack a long hours in the lab. Because she was a “day hopper”—the moral compass.” learn of her amazing St. Rose name for commuters—she often got home very In 1995, she gave the success.” late. Her mother worried, as mothers do, saying, “I hope commencement address —Susan Harrington you are going to use all this chemistry you are spending so at St. Rose and received much time on.” She said she would, and so she has—but an honorary Doctorate of not in the way that she expected. Her organic chemistry Humane Letters. In her address, she noted that the world background has come in handy in quite a few disputes, is now very different. “In those ancient times, we had a from the composition of cargo tanks to the validity of pat- 10 p.m. curfew on weeknights and a midnight curfew on ent licenses. weekends.” The only constant, in the words of science fic- During freshman orientation, Sister Bernarda Jacques tion writer Ursula K. Le Guin, is “permanent, intolerable dragooned Judge Preska into the debate team. Sister uncertainty, not knowing what comes next.” Her advice to Bernarda scoured every incoming freshman’s high school graduates: “Embrace uncertainty and take advantage of the transcript for debate experience. If you had it, you were on dynamic opportunities open to you because of it.” the team. Sister Bernarda tolerated no objections. This year, Judge Preska returned to St. Rose as the Judge Preska was teamed with Patricia Fox, two years inaugural Jurist in Residence to help prepare the Loretta her senior, now a plastic surgeon in Schenectady and life- A. Preska Mock Trial Team, a foundation funded by the long friend. Preska and Fox stood out from the other teams: generous gifts of her former law clerks. She also gave a talk Judge Preska is 5 foot 10 inches and Dr. Fox is barely 5 about her career, “From the Chem Lab to the Courtroom,” feet tall. “She fit under my chin,” says Judge Preska. “We and hosted a panel discussion about the opportunities, definitely were an odd couple,” says Dr. Fox. challenges, and changes in the legal profession. Debate experience was not the only reason Sister Bernarda valued the pair. “We didn’t have much choice From St. Rose to Fordham Law about debate,” says Dr. Fox. “We had debate experience. Following her graduation in 1970, she entered Fordham More importantly, we had cars. Sister Bernarda needed our Law School. She was one of only eight women in her sec- cars to get back and forth from tournaments.” tion of 100. Sidley Austin LLP partner Susan Harrington, Sister Bernarda sat in the back seat holding a rosary. head of Sidley’s private clients group in New York and an Both Dr. Fox and Judge Preska had a tendency to drive authority on international estate planning and taxation, was fast. “No matter who drove, Sister Bernarda always prayed.” in the same section. “The women who were at Fordham in Dr. Fox says Judge Preska had an uncommon ability to the early 1970s really wanted to be there,” says Harrington. persuade, even then. “I remember one time we got a flat tire “There were only a handful of us, so we all knew each other on the BQE [the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway]. Loretta very well. Loretta was always a lot of fun, but she also had charmed the young policemen—Tootie and Muldoon type a professional mien and incredible poise. She was clearly a characters3—into changing the tire for us.” woman who knew where she wanted to go and how to get there.” Adds Harrington, “If I had fallen asleep in 1973 and Opting for a Life in the Law, Not the Lab awakened in 2013, I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to In the summer between her sophomore and junior learn of her amazing success.” years, Bethlehem selected Judge Preska to be its commu- Judge Preska has nothing but the fondest memories nity ambassador in Denmark on an exchange program run of her time at Fordham and her professors there, such as by the Experiment in International Living. The Experiment, Joseph McLaughlin (who was later dean, Eastern District whose alumni include Supreme Court Justice Stephen Judge, and member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals), Breyer, Director Julie Taymor, and Peace Corps founder and John Sprizzo (later a colleague on the Southern District Sargent Shriver, seeks to foster peace through understand- bench). The fondness is mutual: Fordham awarded Judge Preska the Louis J. Lefkowitz Public Service Award; the by Judge Robert Ward. She was confirmed as part of a Fordham Law Alumni Association awarded her its Medal bipartisan package that included Sonia Sotomayor, now an of Achievement; and the Milton and Moselle Pollack associate justice of the Supreme Court. In 2008, President Foundation created a scholarship at Fordham called the George W. Bush nominated Judge Preska to the Second Judge Loretta Preska Award, given annually to the son or Circuit Court of Appeals, but the nomination died with the daughter of a New York firefighter or police officer. 2008 election. Judge Preska calls it a blessing in disguise, because it permitted her to become chief judge in 2009, Litigation Associate and Partner when then-Chief Judge Kimba Wood took senior status.