Cravath Swaine & Moore partner Rowan Wilson has been nominated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the Court of Appeals, the governor’s office said Monday.
Cuomo formally sent Wilson’s name to the state Senate before the midnight Sunday deadline to nominate a successor to Eugene Pigott Jr., the 70-year-old Buffalo-area jurist who stepped off the court on Dec. 31 due to mandatory judicial retirement rules. Wilson’s nomination, if approved by the Senate within the 30 days prescribed by statute, would mean that all members of the state’s highest court were appointed by Cuomo, a Democrat who took office in 2011. Pigott was selected by the last Republican governor, George Pataki, who served from 1995 to 2007.
Cuomo chose Wilson’s name from a list of seven candidates sent by the state Commission on Judicial Nomination. Wilson, 56, of Port Washington, has been nominated five times.
The 1984 Harvard Law School graduate has focused on a range of commercial matters in his 30 years at Cravath, including antitrust, intellectual property, contract, securities fraud, entertainment and media law.
The commercial bar in New York City and groups such as the Partnership for New York City have advocated for years for an experienced commercial litigator such as Wilson to serve on the court, especially since the 2014 departure of judge Robert Smith, the last member with wide private commercial experience.
Full Content: New York Law Journal
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