Gov. George Pataki has nominated a Cornell Law School alumnus to serve on the New York State Court of Appeals. Richard Carl Wesley will become the third Cornell Law School alumnus since 1944 to serve on the state's highest court when his nomination is approved.
Pataki nominated Wesley on Dec. 3 to replace Associate Judge Richard D. Simons.
Wesley earned his juris doctorate from the Cornell Law School in 1974, after having received a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany in 1971. He currently serves as a judge on the Appellate Division Fourth Department of the State Supreme Court in Rochester.
"It is a tribute to the Cornell Law School to again have representation on New York's highest court," said Charles D. Cramton, assistant dean for alumni and international affairs for the Law School, who was a private practice attorney in Rochester in the 1980s during the time Wesley served as a judge in the New York State Supreme Court and with the Appellate Division.
"Dick Wesley is a highly respected and competent jurist who will do a tremendous job in his new post," Cramton said.
The Law School's alumni link with the Court of Appeals dates back to the 1940s. Marvin R. Dye, who earned his LL.B. in 1917, is believed to be the first Law School alumnus to serve on the state's highest court. He served from November 1944 until December 1965.
The most recent alumnus to sit on the high court was Stewart F. Hancock Jr., who was appointed by Gov. Mario Cuomo in January 1986 and served until December 1993. Hancock earned his LL.B. in 1950.