Loretta A. Preska (born 1949) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Born in Albany, Preska received law degrees from Fordham University School of Law and New York University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City from 1973 to 1992 at the law firms of Cahill Gordon & Reindel and Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason (now Winston & Strawn). President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the district bench in 1992. She served as chief judge of the court for a seven-year term from 2009 to 2016, and took senior status in 2017. President George W. Bush nominated Preska to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008, but the Senate did not act on the nomination.
Loretta A. Preska
New York Southern District Court
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Born 1949 in Albany, NY
FJC ID: 1936
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 2/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 12/year
New York Southern District Court · 1992–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Female
- Race
- White
Prior employment
Board member · 2008–2012- Private practice, New York City1973–1992
Appointments
1992–2017 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)
Education
LL.M. · 1978
J.D. · 1973- College of St. RoseB.A. · 1970