Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson to Deliver Keynote Address at Brooklyn Law School’s 124th Commencement

The Hon. Rowan D. Wilson, Chief Judge of the State of New York and the New York Court of Appeals, will be the keynote speaker at Brooklyn Law School’s 124th Commencement ceremony on May 19, 2025. 

Having served since 2017 as associate judge of the Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, Wilson was nominated as chief judge by Governor Kathy Hochul in April 2023. Upon his confirmation by the state Senate later that month, Wilson became the first person of color to serve as chief judge in the court’s 176-year history.  

In nominating Wilson, Hochul praised his “sterling record of upholding justice and fairness,” and said that “he has demonstrated through his years already on this court the intellect, the understanding, the ability to write in such a powerful way and to really make decisions that matter.” 

In 2024, Wilson was the recipient of the Stanley Fuld Award, the highest honor of the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial & Federal Litigation Section. 

Born in Pomona, Calif., Wilson grew up in Berkeley, Calif. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard College in 1981, and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1984. Admitted to the bar in both California and New York, Wilson served from 1984 to 1986 as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. James R. Browning, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco. 

In 1986, Wilson joined the firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City as an associate, where his caseload included antitrust, intellectual property, securities fraud, civil rights, and complex commercial cases. He was elected to the partnership there in 1991, becoming the firm’s first partner of color, and continued as partner until his 2017 appointment as associate judge of the Court of Appeals. 

During his years in private practice, Wilson also handled numerous pro bono matters, served as Trustee for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and for the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, and for 21 years was Chair of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.