Wolford nomination questionnaire made public

Leadership roles in various bar activities and 20 years of legal experience are among the qualifications Elizabeth A. Wolford listed in her questionnaire for consideration for nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

Wolford is a partner in The Wolford Law Firm LLP of Rochester. The questionnaire, filed with the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, is part of the lengthy confirmation process. It was posted to the Judiciary Committee’s website late last week, although it is dated May 16. A committee spokesman said it was received May 31.

Wolford served as president of the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys from 2003 through 2004 and was actively involved in the organization for several years. She is also a 2008 recipient of its Hanna S. Cohn mentoring award.

“I was instrumental in establishing a mentoring program for the organization and during my tenure as president, we were successful in dramatically increasing membership of the organization to record levels,” she wrote. “I have continued to support the organization throughout my legal career.”

Her legal career includes working as a summer associate in 1991 at Harris Beach PLLC. Wolford graduated in 1992 from Notre Dame Law School and the following year, joined Michael R. Wolford & Associates, the firm started by her father that is now The Wolford Law Firm, a litigation firm handling criminal and civil matters. She has been a partner since 2002.

She primarily focuses her practice in the areas of commercial and employment litigation, which includes handling a corporate client’s employment litigation in various parts of the country.

“Once I became a partner of the firm, I also became responsible for various management and administrative tasks and those responsibilities have increased in recent years,” Wolford wrote in her 37-page response to the Judiciary Committee questionnaire. “For example, I help manage our firm’s information technology systems.”

Her clients are business and educational institutions, including Eastman Kodak Co., Exelis Inc. (formerly ITT Defense), the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology.

She estimates 95 percent of her practice is in civil proceedings, 5 percent in criminal, and that 60 percent of her cases are in federal courts; 38 percent, state courts of record; and 2 percent, administrative agencies. She has tried nine cases to verdict, judgment or final decision, acting as sole counsel on three, chief counsel on another three and associate counsel on three.

Wolford stated she has been involved in pro bono activities throughout her career and that her firm has received pro bono awards from the New York State Bar Association and the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County Inc.

If confirmed, Wolford said she would recuse herself from any cases in which The Wolford Law Firm was a party or representing a party, noting her brother James S. Wolford is also a partner. Wolford also said she would conform with the Code of Conduct for U.S. judges and other relevant statutes and rules in respect to former clients she has represented in federal court, and regarding her sister-in-law, Kelly C. Wolford, first assistant district attorney for Monroe County.

In addition, Wolford has published legal articles, editorials and columns, mostly in The Daily Record and the Monroe County Bar Association newsletter, and has spoken at bar events, continuing legal education courses and other programs dating back to 1999.

Wolford has never been a candidate for public office, but has volunteered on the campaigns of others, including chairing Rep. Louise Slaughter’s Campaign Finance Committee from 2002 to 2004; and working on the campaigns of Monroe County Family Court Judge Gail A. Donofrio and state Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Frazee.

Wolford was recommended for nomination on March 5 by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.. President Barack Obama sent her nomination to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 16. A spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee said the some background materials have yet to be received, then the committee can schedule Wolford’s hearing.

The committee, she said, is also waiting on the return of “blue slips” by Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., indicating whether they approve of the nomination or not. A Gillibrand spokesman said the senator supports the nomination and has returned her blue slip. Schumer’s office did not respond by deadline.

After the hearing, committee members will take a vote to decide whether or not to send the nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Wolford is being considered for the Rochester seat of Judge Charles J. Siragusa, who was elevated to senior status in December. The American Bar Association unanimously rated her as qualified for the position.

If confirmed, she would be the first woman to sit on the bench in the 17-county Western District of New York. According to a White House spokesman, 47 percent of Obama’s confirmed judges have been women, compared to 22 percent for President George W. Bush and 29 percent for President Bill Clinton.

Wolford is also involved with the MCBA, in which she has served various leadership roles, most recently completing a two-year term as president of the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar, the association’s charitable arm.

She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Seventh Judicial District Gender Fairness Committee and has been a member of the American Bar Association intermittently.

In addition, Wolford’s awards include a Special Service Award for excellence in the vigorous representation of a pro bono client in 2000 from the court she seeks to join. Later this month, she will receive the state bar association’s 2013 Root/Stimson Award for outstanding commitment to community and volunteer service. Other awards include MCBA’s President’s Award, 2012; GRAWA President’s Award, 1999; The Daily Record’s Leader in Law Award in 2010 and Up and Coming Attorney, 1999; and NYSBA’s Outstanding Young Attorney of the Year in 2003.

Wolford, 46, has served on the board of Sojourner House at Pathstone, a transitional home for women in crisis and on the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County Inc.

She is a native of Buffalo who grew up in the Rochester area and attended Fairport schools.

The addition of Wolford would bring the district to a full complement of two full-time district judges each in Buffalo and Rochester.