The Hon. Caitlin J. Halligan, associate judge of the Court of Appeals, will deliver the commencement address for Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law's 47th graduation ceremony at Lincoln Center on June 4. 

Judge Halligan, an Ohio native, has served on the Court of Appeals since her appointment by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2023. She received her A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1988 and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. From 1995 to 1996, she clerked for Judge Patricia Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and from 1997 to 1998, for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. 

Before attending law school, Judge Halligan was a Princeton-In-Asia Teaching Fellow in central China and a legislative aide on Capitol Hill. From 1999 through 2006, she worked in the New York Attorney General’s Office, where she spent more than five years as solicitor general of New York. She also served as general counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney from 2010 through 2013 and was in private practice at several law firms in New York City. As a partner at Selendy Gay PLLC, she headed the appellate and pro bono practices. She has taught courses on public law issues at Harvard and Columbia law schools. 

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law 47th Annual Commencement Exercises will take place on June 4 at 4:30 p.m. at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. 

To keep up to date about Commencement 2025, click here.