Hon. David L. Edmunds, Jr.

Judge Edmunds and his sister are the children of two South Carolina natives. They were raised in the all-Black neighborhood of Hamlin Park and educated at PS No. 74. His father was employed at the GM/Chevrolet plant on East Delavan Avenue for 34 years; his mother was a clerk at American Standard. Having only an eighth-grade education, his father saw higher education as the most valuable tool for a young Black person. Going to college was non-negotiable. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.”

Although he decided on a law career while in high school, Edmunds did not meet a lawyer until college. Reading about John Lewis and the Montgomery bus boycott and civil rights attorneys, he concluded that lawyers were critical to the lives of everyday people. The first Black lawyer he knew about was Will Gibson, a classmate’s father. The first Black lawyer he met was Hugh Scott—and Edmunds did not even realize at the time that Scott was a lawyer. Years later, when Scott headed the Attorney General’s Office, he hired Edmunds as his deputy and became his mentor.

Judge Edmunds majored in political science at the University of Rochester, where he was active in student government and became involved in the community. He decided to pursue a career in public-interest law and applied to several law schools. While visiting Case Western Reserve in Ohio, he became aware that noted civil rights attorney Fred Gray was a graduate. That helped influence his decision to go there.

He enjoyed law school and participated in Black student union organizations. His favorite class was Federal Jurisdiction. He had “fascinating” summer jobs at the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, both in Cleveland. “I learned how the U.S. Constitution comes into play in the everyday lives of the American people,” he said.

After graduating from law school, he was hired by the Ohio Attorney General’s office for litigation in Columbus. He returned to Buffalo to take the bar exam and went to work for Neighborhood Legal Services. It was exactly where he wanted to be.

Now retired, he most recently served as a Buffalo City Court judge. Throughout his legal career, Edmunds has also served as deputy commissioner of the New York State Liquor Authority; chief counsel for the Attorney Grievance Committee of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, and deputy assistant attorney general in charge of the Buffalo regional office. Edmunds was a partner at Damon and Morey LLP and special counsel at Phillips Lytle LLP.