Ronnie Abrams

Early life and education

Abrams was one of two children born to Floyd Abrams, a prominent attorney, and Efrat Abrams. She was raised in New York City's Upper East Side, where she attended the Dalton School. Abrams received a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1990. In 1993, she received a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. After completing law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas P. Griesa of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Professional career

From 1998 to 2008, Abrams worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, where she served as Chief of the General Crimes Unit from 2005 to 2007 and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 2007 to 2008. She received the United States Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance for two cases. The first case involved the convictions of members of a Colombian gang wanted for the murder of a New York City police detective and some 100 armed robberies; the second case was for the convictions of leaders of the Bloods gang. In 2008, Abrams returned to Davis Polk as Special Counsel for Pro Bono. She had previously worked at the firm from 1994 to 1998. While at Davis Polk, Ms. Abrams served as Counsel to the New York State Justice Task Force, a task force created by New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and make recommendations for changes to safeguard against such convictions in the future. Abrams is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, where she teaches about investigating and prosecuting federal criminal cases.

Federal judicial service

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recommended Abrams to fill a judicial vacancy on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On July 28, 2011, President Barack Obama formally nominated Abrams to the Southern District of New York. She replaced Judge Lewis A. Kaplan who took senior status in 2011. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on October 4, 2011 and reported her nomination to the floor on November 3, 2011. On March 22, 2012, the Senate confirmed Abrams in a 96–2 vote. She received her commission on March 23, 2012.

Notable cases

In 2016, Abrams was assigned to preside over a case in which Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein are accused by the plaintiff of having raped her in the 1990s, when the plaintiff was thirteen years old. The complaint was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by the Plaintiff in September of 2016.

In January of 2017, Abrams was assigned to preside over a pending case in which Donald Trump was sued by a nonprofit group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, over an alleged violation by Trump of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution. On July 11, 2017 Judge Abrams recused herself from the case when her husband, Greg Andres, began talks to join Special Counsel Robert Mueller's staff investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Personal life

Abrams is the daughter of noted First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams. Her brother, Dan Abrams, is a television personality and internet entrepreneur who currently serves as legal analyst for Good Morning America. Abrams and her husband, Greg Donald Andres, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, were married in 2001 by Judge Loretta A. Preska.