Victoria A. Graffeo, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1952.
Educated in the Schenectady and Guilderland public school systems, she graduated from the State University College at Oneonta in 1974 and received her J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University in 1977. She engaged in private practice from 1978 to 1982, and entered government service in 1982 as assistant counsel to the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She began employment in the State Legislature as counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kemp Hannon in 1984 and served as chief counsel to Assembly Minority Leader Clarence D. Rappleyea, Jr. from 1989 through 1994.
On January 1, 1995, she was appointed Solicitor General for the State of New York by Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco and served in that capacity until appointed, in September 1996, by Governor George E. Pataki to fill a vacancy in the State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District. She was elected that November to a full term as Justice of the State Supreme Court and, in March 1998, became an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department. Her appointment to the Court of Appeals by Governor George E. Pataki was confirmed by the State Senate on November 29, 2000. She currently resides in Guilderland, New York.
