Theresa Whelan

Theresa Whelan

Democratic

BACKGROUND: Whelan, 56, of Wading River, is running on the Democratic, Conservative, and Independence party lines in the general election. She has been a Suffolk County Family Court Judge since 2008 and was appointed supervising judge of the Suffolk County Family Court in February 2016. More recently, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore appointed Judge Whelan to the New York State Commission on Parental Representation, which is tasked with holding public hearings throughout the state and reporting on the status and quality of lawyers representing parents in child welfare cases. She was appointed in 2017 to the statewide Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee, which reviews proposed state legislation and drafts its own proposals on family law. She has been the lead judge of the Suffolk County Child Welfare Court Improvement Project since 2009. She began her law career as an assistant county attorney for Suffolk in 1988 and then was a law clerk to three state Supreme Court justices from 1990 to 2007. Whelan graduated from Stony Brook University in 1985 with both a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in policy analysis and public management. She received her law degree from Albany Law School in 1988. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1989. Whelan is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, where she was co-chair of the Family Court Committee from 2013 to 2016. She is a member and past president of the Suffolk County Women’s Bar Association. Whelan is also the chair of the Suffolk County Attorneys for Children Advisory Committee. She frequently lectures for the Law Academy or other law organizations. In May 2017, Hofstra University's Center for Children, Families and the Law honored her for her work in Family Court.