Drawing on her many years of serving on the bench of the New York State Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division, Third Department and the State Supreme Court, Judge Graffeo leads the firm’s Appellate Practice Group and handles civil appeals in state and federal courts. She also serves as an appellate consultant to domestic and foreign law firms. She acts as a mediator or a neutral arbitrator in private dispute resolution situations and serves as a mediator for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District.
As former Senior Associate Judge on the New York Court of Appeals, Judge Graffeo is frequently engaged to provide expert witness services in connection with contract disputes governed by New York law. In this capacity, she prepares reports on New York law to aid arbitrators or courts interpreting New York precedent.
Prior to joining Harris Beach Murtha, Judge Graffeo served on the New York Court of Appeals from December 2000 to November 2014. She authored over 250 civil and criminal majority opinions for the Court and she was appointed by the Chief Judge to serve as Chair of several Access to Justice committees.
In April 1998, she was designated to serve as an additional Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court in the Third Judicial Department. In September 1996, Judge Graffeo was appointed to fill a justice vacancy on the New York State Supreme Court in the Third Judicial District and was elected to a full term of office commencing January 1, 1997. She presided over jury and nonjury trials, hearings, motion arguments and other proceedings in Albany, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
Her judicial appointments included chair of the New York State-Federal Judicial Council, chair of the Advisory Committee on the Pro Bono Scholars Program, co-chair of the Advisory Committee on New York State Pro Bono Bar Admission Requirements, chair of the Advisory Committee on Pro Bono Service By In-House Counsel In New York State, Court of Appeals Liaison to the New York State Board of Law Examiners and member of the American Bar Association’s Legal Education and Bar Admission Section.
From January 1995 to September 1996, Judge Graffeo served as Solicitor General and Counsel to the New York State Attorney General. She was involved with the executive and administrative matters of the Office of the Attorney General, with more than 400 attorneys. As head of the Appeals and Opinions Bureau, she was directly responsible for management of the state's federal and state appellate litigation and the rendering of Attorney General Opinions to state agencies and municipalities. Judge Graffeo had responsibility for the review and approval of hundreds of briefs to the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the New York State Court of Appeals and the Appellate Divisions of the New York State Supreme Court.
Previously, Judge Graffeo had a number of posts in state government from 1982 to 1994. She served as Chief Counsel to the Assembly Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly, Counsel to the Minority Leader Pro Tempore of the New York State Assembly and Assistant Counsel of the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She began her legal career as a litigation associate in an Albany law firm.