Shira Scheindlin

Shira A. Scheindlin (pronounced SHEND-lin; born 1946) is a United States District Court judge on senior status for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on July 28, 1994, to a seat vacated by Louis J. Freeh (who went on to be the director of the FBI). The United States Senate confirmed her on September 28, 1994, and she was commissioned on September 29, 1994. On December 12, 2012, her judicial seat was filled by Lorna G. Schofield after Scheindlin took senior status. Judge Scheindlin's greatest influence has been in the field of electronic discovery. Scheindlin's decisions in Zubulake v. UBS Warburg were "so influential [the rulings were] partially absorbed into the recent civil procedure amendments [in 2006]." Education Scheindlin was born in Washington, D.C. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Far Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan (1967), her Master's Degree in History from Columbia University (1969), and her J.D. from Cornell Law School (1975). Pre-judicial career Before taking her seat on the Southern District, Scheindlin worked as a prosecutor, commercial lawyer, and judge. She was a clerk for federal judge Charles L. Brieant from 1976–1977 and, from 1977 to 1981, was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. From 1981 to 1982, she was General Counsel for the New York City Department of Investigation. Starting in 1982, and continuing through 1984, she served as special master in the Agent Orange mass tort litigation. She was an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School from 1983 to 1994. From 1992 to 1994, she was special master for another mass torts case involving property damaged by asbestos. As a commercial lawyer, Scheindlin worked for Stroock & Stroock & Lavan (1975–76), Budd, Larner, Gross, Rosenbaum, Greenberg & Sade (1986–90), and Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C. (1990–94).