Shira Scheindlin

Shira A. Scheindlin (b. 1946) is a United States district judge for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated by William Jefferson Clinton on July 28, 1994 to a seat vacated by Louis J. Freeh, confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 1994, and commissioned on September 29, 1994. She is known for her intellectual acumen, demanding courtroom demeanor, aggressive interpretations of the law, and expertise in mass torts, electronic discovery, and complex litigation.

Important cases

During her tenure, Scheindlin has presided over a number of high profile cases, many of which advanced important new positions in the common law.

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• In April 2002, in the case United States v. Awadallah, after Awadallah testified before a Grand Jury that he had met with two of the September 11, 2001 highjackers, but could not remember their names, Scheindlin dismissed a perjury charge against him and found that Awadallah's prolonged detention without actual criminal charges was based on misrepresentations and omissions by the government and could not be justified under existing law.
• In February 2004 in the case Maurice Clarett v. National Football League, Scheindlin ruled that the NFL could not bar Clarett from participating in the 2004 NFL Draft. This decision was later overturned by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the case was not heard by the Supreme Court.
• In April 2004, in the case Zubulake v. UBS Warburg, Scheindlin sanctioned Warburg for not being able to complete their E-Discovery of potentially informative documents, and not complying with their litigation hold on the destruction of documents. Due to this, the defense was not able to present documents to their defense, and lost the $29 million dollar promotion discrimination case. This case has been seen as revolutionary in the legal realms of human resources and computer forensics, as the burden of proof was effectively shifted to the defendant for their inability to produce documents in a timely manner, and the presentation to the jury of an adverse inference.
• In August 2005, Judge Scheindlin presided over the trial of John ("Junior") Gotti Jr., whom the United States accused of running the Gambino crime family after his father, John Gotti Sr, or the Dapper Don, was incarcerated. The case ended in a partial mistrial.