Sarah L. Cave was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York on October 1, 2019. Judge Cave received a B.A. from Colgate University in 1995, magna cum laude, and in 1997, received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a Note Editor for the Journal of Law Reform. From January 2007 until her appointment, Judge Cave was a litigation partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York City, where her practice focused on securities litigation, bankruptcy litigation, and accountants’ liability. During her tenure in private practice, Judge Cave was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Circuits, as well as the Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern District Courts. Before joining Hughes Hubbard in 2002, Judge Cave clerked for the Honorable Joan A. Lenard in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and served as a Staff Law Clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Judge Cave is actively involved in the Federal Bar Council, where she chaired the Second Circuit Courts Committee, served on the Strategic Planning Committee, served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Foundation, and now serves on the Editorial Board of the FBC Quarterly. She served terms as Chair and Vice President of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Committee to Encourage Judicial Service of the New York City Bar Association. From 2013 to 2018, she was a member of the New York State Bar Association President’s Committee on Access to Justice. Judge Cave served in several pro bono and community organizations, including The Legal Aid Society, on whose Board of Directors she served, as well as The Friends of Governor’s Island and the First Step Program of the Coalition for the Homeless. From 2013 to 2014, she was a Fellow in the David Rockefeller Fellows Program of the Partnership for New York City. Since taking the bench, she has been active in the Second Circuit’s civic education initiatives, including co-organizing the Justice For All Summer Teachers’ Institute and judging moot court programs.

In 2012, Crain’s New York Business recognized Judge Cave as one of the Leading Women Lawyers in New York City, and the New York Law Journal designated her as a “Lawyer Who Leads By Example.” In 2015, she became a member of the American Law Institute, and she received the Legal Aid Society’s Public Interest Law Leadership Award. She is a ten-time recipient of the Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Publico Award.