United States District Court for the Western District of New York

Western District of New York
Second Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 4
Judges: 4
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Elizabeth A. Wolford
Active judges: John Sinatra, Meredith Vacca, Lawrence Joseph Vilardo, Elizabeth A. Wolford Senior judges: Richard Arcara, Frank P. Geraci Jr., David Larimer, Charles Siragusa, William Skretny

The United States District Court for the Western District of New York is one of 94 United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in Lower Manhattan at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, out of the court's four judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Elizabeth A. Wolford	Barack Obama (D)	December 17, 2013 -	Colgate University, 1989	Notre Dame Law School, 1992
Lawrence Joseph Vilardo	Barack Obama (D)	October 29, 2015 -	Canisius College, 1977	Harvard Law School, 1980
John Sinatra	Donald Trump (R)	December 5, 2019 -	State University of New York, Buffalo, 1993	State University of New York, Buffalo School of Law, 1996
Meredith Vacca	Joe Biden (D)	July 31, 2024 -	Colgate University, 2002	State University of New York, Buffalo School of Law, 2005

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 3
• Republican appointed: 1

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
David Larimer	Ronald Reagan (R)	March 3, 2009 -	St. John Fisher College, 1966	Notre Dame Law School, 1969
Charles Siragusa	Bill Clinton (D)	December 15, 2012 -	LeMoyne College, 1969	Albany Law School, 1976
Richard Arcara	Ronald Reagan (R)	January 3, 2015 -	St. Bonaventure University, 1962	Villanova University School of Law, 1965
William Skretny	George H.W. Bush (R)	March 8, 2015 -	Canisius College, 1966	Howard University School of Law, 1969
Frank P. Geraci Jr.	Barack Obama (D)	April 1, 2023 -	University of Dayton, 1973	University of Dayton School of Law, 1977

Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 2
• Republican appointed: 3

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Kenneth Schroeder		June 1, 2000 -	Canisius College	State University of New York, Buffalo
Marian Payson		April 14, 2003 -	Duke University	Northwestern University Law
Jeremiah McCarthy		February 26, 2007 -	University of Notre Dame	Cornell Law
Michael J. Roemer		December 18, 2015 -	West Point	Cornell Law School
Mark Pedersen		November 6, 2019 -	Syracuse University, 1979	State University of New York, Buffalo School of Law, 1982

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.

Frank P. Geraci, Jr. - (2015-2021) William Skretny - (2010-2015) Richard Arcara - (2003-2010) David Larimer - (1996-2002) Michael Telesca - (1989-1995) John Curtin - (1974-1989) John Henderson - (1967-1974) Harold Burke - (1955-1967) John Knight - (1948-1955)

Former judges

For information about judges of the Western District of New York, see former federal judges of the Western District of New York.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Western District of New York (click for larger map)

The Western District of New York has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

• Allegany County
• Cattaraugus County
• Chautauqua County
• Chemung County
• Erie County
• Genesee County
• Livingston County
• Monroe County
• Niagara County
• Ontario County
• Orleans County
• Schuyler County
• Seneca County
• Steuben County
• Wayne County
• Wyoming County
• Yates County

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024.

Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

Caseload statistics explanation
Term	Explanation
Cases filed and terminated	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated or decided by the court in a calendar year. The chart below reflects the table columns Cases filed and Cases terminated.
Average time from filing to disposition	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to date of disposition (acquittal, sentencing, dismissal, etc.). The chart below reflects the table columns Median time (Criminal) and Median time (Civil).
Starting case load	The number of cases pending from the previous calendar year.
Cases filed	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated in a calendar year.
Cases terminated	The total number of civil and criminal lawsuits decided by the court in a calendar year.
Remaining cases	The number of civil and criminal cases pending at the end of a given year.
Median time (Criminal)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition. In criminal cases, the date of disposition occurs on the day of sentencing or acquittal/dismissal.
Median time (Civil)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition.
Three-year civil cases	The number and percent of civil cases that were filed more than three years before the end of the given calendar year.
Vacant posts	The number of months during the year an authorized judgeship was vacant.
Trial/Post	The number of trials completed divided by the number of authorized judgeships on the court. Trials include evidentiary trials, hearings on temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions.
Source: United States Courts, "Explanation of the Judicial Caseload Profiles for United States District Courts," accessed September 25, 2018

United States District Court for the Western District of New York caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year	Cases Filed	Cases Terminated	Cases Pending	Number of Judgeships	Vacant Judgeship Months	Average Total Filings per Judgeship	Trials Completed per Judgeship	Median time from filing to disposition, criminal	Median time from filing to disposition, civil	Three-year civil cases (#)	Three-year civil cases (%)
2010	3,087	3,155	3,755	4	12	772	13	9	8	423	17
2011	2,693	2,866	3,002	4	12	673	6	10	9	396	17
2012	3,140	2,972	3,698	4	12	785	11	9	8	386	16
2013	3,058	3,056	3,678	4	11	765	11	13	9	349	14
2014	2,976	3,011	3,632	4	0	744	12	16	11	358	14
2015	2,907	2,814	3,715	4	19	727	11	15	10	378	14
2016	2,829	2,959	3,580	4	12	707	10	19	13	419	16
2017	3,292	2,903	3,975	4	12	823	14	15	12	442	14
2018	3,625	3,271	4,309	4	12	906	16	14	14	420	12
2019	3,797	3,784	4,309	4	11	949	13	11	14	433	12
2020	3,854	3,313	4,844	4	0	964	8	13	15	461	11
2021	2,952	3,421	4,385	4	0	738	8	14	14	470	13
2022	2,368	3,019	3,734	4	0	592	11	14	16	515	18
2023	2,885	3,044	3,565	4	0	721	7	10	11	525	18
Average	3,105	3,113	3,870	4	8	776	11	13	12	427	15

History

The District of New York was established by Congress on September 24, 1789, with one post to cover the entire state. On April 09, 1814, Congress split the district into two, creating the Northern and Southern Districts of New York, each receiving one judgeship. The Eastern District was created on February 25, 1865, with one authorized judgeship. The Western District was created last of the districts on May 12, 1900, receiving one authorized judgeship. Over time three additional judicial posts were added for a total of four current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of New York:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
September 24, 1789	1 Stat. 73	1 (District of New York)
May 12, 1900	31 Stat. 175	1
March 3, 1927	44 Stat. 1370	2
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	3
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 1929	4 (3 permanent, 1 temporary)
December 1, 1990	104 STat. 5089	4 (4 permanent)

Noteworthy cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions of the Western District of New York.

Noteworthy events

Federal Judicial Conference recommendation (2019)

In March 2019, the Federal Judicial Conference (FJC) recommended that one judgeship be added to the district. Based on FJC data, the district handled 562 weighted filings per judgeship from September 2017 to September 2018. Weighted filings are a specific metric used by the federal judiciary that accounts for the different amounts of time judges require to resolve types of civil and criminal cases. The national average in that period for weighted filings per judgeship was 513.

The FJC is the policy-making body for the United States federal courts system. It was first organized as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges in 1922. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States serves as chair of the conference. The members of the conference are the chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Chief Judge of the Court of International Trade, and a district judge from each regional judicial circuit.

Federal courthouse

The United States District Court for the Western District of New York has two locations. One is located in Buffalo and serves Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Erie, Wyoming, Allegany, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus counties. The other is located in Rochester and serves Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Livingston, Steuben, Schuyler, and Chemung counties.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through March 1 of the first year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, no president had made Article III judicial appointments.