Acting New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood sworn in
Barbara Underwood was sworn in as acting New York State Attorney General today.
“I am honored to serve the people of New York as acting Attorney General,” Underwood said. “The work of this office is critically important. Our office has never been stronger, and this extraordinarily talented, dedicated, and tireless team of public servants will ensure that our work continues without interruption.”
Underwood was appointed New York Solicitor General in January 2007. Prior to her appointment, she served as counsel and as Chief Assistant to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
From 1998 to 2001, she was the Acting Solicitor General and Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. She has held executive positions in the Queens and Brooklyn District Attorneys’ offices and served as a trial attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
She has argued 20 cases in the United States Supreme Court, as well as many cases in the state and federal courts of appeals. She has served as chairwoman of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Council on Criminal Justice of the New York City Bar Association. She was Professor of Law at Yale Law School, Visiting Professor at New York University School of Law, and Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School.
She was a law clerk to Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.
She received a B.A. from Harvard University (Radcliffe College) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated first in her class.