E. Jeannette Ogden - Adjunct Instructor │ Influential Women

About E.

E. Ogden serves as a judge on the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, 4th Department, where she handles appeals in panels of five, a position she has held since her 2022 appointment by Governor Kathy Hochul. She has served on nearly every level of the New York court system, beginning with her 1995 appointment to the Buffalo City Court, followed by roles as an acting family court judge (the first African American appointed to that position in western New York) and acting criminal court judge. Earlier in her career, after graduating from UB Law School in 1983, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Erie County District Attorney's Office, as a litigator in the county attorney's office handling claims against county departments, as house counsel for Cigna Insurance Company, and in her own general law practice. She also held pre-law roles as a counselor and secretary with the City of Buffalo Division for Youth and as a secretary in Governor Hugh Carey's Office of Urban Affairs.

Ten minutes with E.

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say to her to believe in herself. I am a person of faith, and not saying denominations, but a person of faith who believes in God. And I tell people all things are possible with God. I would tell her to explore the various areas of law. Go sit in a courtroom, in a case that might be criminal. Go sit in a courtroom, in a case that might be civil. It's not all the glamour that's on TV of being in the court all the time. Go to a law firm. I would say take a visit to the law school. They have various programs. Now, the University of Buffalo has an undergraduate degree in law. You can get a bachelor's in law. And that exposes you to the various areas of law. And law is an interdisciplinary field. So you can have, JDMBA, You can have a JD-PhD. You're JD, you don't have to be in a courtroom. You can do all different types of things with a law degree.