Hon. Deborah A. Chimes ’89

The youngest of five, Judge Chimes attended public high school and UB undergraduate. After taking a year off, she entered UB law school. She was a first-generation college graduate and the first lawyer in her family. She chose to attend UB law school because she wanted to stay local.

She graduated in 1989 from the North Campus. There were 200 in her law school class, and one-third to half were women. While in law school, she worked part time as a waitress, which she said prepared her for life’s challenges. She clerked one summer but made more money waitressing. Her preparation at UB law school was good. She thought the adjunct professors, who were practitioners, added a worthwhile dimension. Her favorite class was Criminal Defense, and her favorite professor was Charles Carr. She remains friends with classmates today. Her fondest memory is the camaraderie of classmates discussing classes or cases over coffee.

After graduation, Judge Chimes worked for the law firm Grosse, Chelus, Herdzik & Speyer from 1990 to 1998, where she practiced civil defense work, matrimonial and criminal defense. She then moved to in-house counsel for an insurance company for 10 years. She became a Supreme Court justice in 2010.

She also served as a town justice in Orchard Park and as an acting judge of Orchard Park Village Court from 2004 until she joined the Supreme Court.  

While in law school, she did not have a mentor and feels she missed opportunities as a result. Now she mentors first-year students. When senior attorneys mentor younger ones and share cases, everyone benefits, she believes.

Law school had a lasting impact on her personal life. She questions her children like an attorney. She uses cross examination skills when meeting someone. She will encourage her children if they decide to pursue law. She believes UB offers good training.

Her greatest professional achievement as a Supreme Court justice, she said, was getting an acquittal for an innocent 17-year-old, as it is significant for an individual to lose his liberty.

She said there is more diversity in cases in private practice than in corporate law. The insurance firm had four attorneys, then added more. Though she was the first woman hired, she was not the only female there. She did not sense any gender differences or a glass ceiling and would not change the path she took.