Shirley Wohl Kram

Who was Shirley Wohl Kram?

Shirley Wohl Kram was a United States federal judge.

Born in New York, New York, Kram received an LL.B. from Brooklyn Law School in 1950. She was an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of New York City from 1951 to 1953, and was in private practice of law in New York City from 1954 to 1960. She was an assistant attorney in charge of the Harlem Office of the Legal Aid Society of New York from 1962 to 1971, and was chief of the Narcotics and Mental Health Division throughout that time. She was a judge to the New York City Family Court in Manhattan from 1971 to 1983.

On January 31, 1983, Kram was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Lawrence W. Pierce. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1983, and received her commission the same day. She assumed senior status on May 23, 1993, and served in that capacity until her death, in 2009.