Denise Cote
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by voice vote, Denise Cote is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She earned a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1975. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1946 · age 80
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1994
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 1968 · Columbia Law School 1975
- Succeeded
- Mary Johnson Lowe
- Succeeded by
- Katherine Polk Failla
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Southern District of New York succeeded Mary Johnson Lowe | Clinton (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana | B.A. | 1968 |
| Columbia University | M.A. | 1969 |
| Columbia Law School | J.D. | 1975 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Cote was assigned 7,905 district-court cases (1985–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 205 days across 7,599 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 406 of Cote’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 326 were affirmed, 50 reversed or vacated, and 30 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Cote authored 189 published opinions for the court (1994–2012). Most cited: New York City Employees' Retirement System v. Ebbers (In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation) (184 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | New York City Employees' Retirement System v. Ebbers (In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation) | 293 B.R. 308 | 184 |
| 2003 | In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation | 294 F. Supp. 2d 431 | 156 |
| 2001 | Cromer Finance Ltd. v. Berger | 137 F. Supp. 2d 452 | 141 |
| 2001 | Urena v. People of State of New York | 160 F. Supp. 2d 606 | 121 |
| 2003 | In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation | 294 F. Supp. 2d 392 | 111 |
| 2003 | In Re WorldCom, Inc. Erisa Litigation | 263 F. Supp. 2d 745 | 84 |
| 2004 | In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation | 346 F. Supp. 2d 628 | 62 |
| 1998 | United States v. Frank | 8 F. Supp. 2d 253 | 56 |
| 2006 | Securities & Exchange Commission v. KPMG LLP | 412 F. Supp. 2d 349 | 54 |
| 2002 | GTFM, Inc. v. Solid Clothing, Inc. | 215 F. Supp. 2d 273 | 54 |
| 1994 | Philippeaux v. North Central Bronx Hospital | 871 F. Supp. 640 | 54 |
| 2005 | In Re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation | 388 F. Supp. 2d 319 | 50 |
| 2008 | Amendola v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. | 558 F. Supp. 2d 459 | 48 |
| 2012 | Weisfelner v. Blavatnik (In Re Lyondell Chemical Co.) | 467 B.R. 712 | 45 |
| 1997 | Heisler v. Kralik | 981 F. Supp. 830 | 40 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 189 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Denise Cote?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Denise Cote to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1994.
- Was Denise Cote appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Denise Cote was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Denise Cote's confirmation vote?
- Denise Cote was confirmed by voice vote on August 9, 1994. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Denise Cote on?
- Denise Cote is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
32 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).