District Attorney for Westchester County in the Southern District of New York

Mimi Rocah | Biography 2021

Rocah received the 'Women In Federal Law Enforcement Leadership Award' in 2016

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : August 03, 2021

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Mimi Rocah is Westchester County District Attorney in the U.S. State of New York.

Who is Mimi Rocah?

Mimi Rocah was elected Westchester County District Attorney in November 2020. Before running for district attorney, she served as a Legal Analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. From 2001 to 2017, Rocah worked as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, handling various cases. During that time, she also became a Chief of the Westchester Division for the Department of Justice in 2011. Earlier, she had also served as a clerk for United States District Judge John Gleeson and United States Circuit Judge Chester J. Straub. She also had worked in a law firm called Cravath, Swain, and Moore.

Early Bio and Education

Miriam E. "Mimi" Rocah was born in the United States on 28 July 1970. In 1992, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History with magna cum laude from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later in 1997, she graduated with a law degree, again with the highest distinction, magna cum laude, and Order of the Coif, from the New York University School of Law in New York City.

Career

After graduation, Rocah worked as a Litigation Associate at a New York-based law firm called Cravath, Swain, and Moore. She then landed a job as a clerk for John Gleeson, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She also served Chester J. Straub, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

Rocah served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York for more than 16-and-a-half years from February 2001 to October 2017. During that time, she prosecuted and supervised numerous cases, including high-profile cases, organized crime, gun trafficking, human trafficking, child abuse, narcotic deals, public corruption, and more. 

In 2011, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, promoted Rocah to the post of Chief of the Westchester Division for the Department of Justice. During her tenure in the Southern District of New York, she also worked closely with law enforcement agencies and other prosecutorial offices on various issues, including White Plains.

Additionally, she chaired the Parent Teacher Association School Safety at the public elementary school where her children studied. She was also actively involved in numerous forums in Westchester on matters such as corruption, sexual and domestic violence, and child abuse. She also volunteered in Moms Demand Action, a movement working to end gun violence.

Before running for the district attorney's office, Rocah also served as a Legal Analyst for various news and political programs, including MSNBC and NBC News. She frequently provided her expert opinions and commentaries on news television programs such as MTP Daily, Deadline: White House, Kasie DC, and Morning Joe. She also appeared on CNN Newsroom and At This Hour with Kate Bolduan in 2018.

District Attorney

In November 2020, Rocah was elected District Attorney of Westchester County. She had won the Democratic primary in June 2020 over incumbent District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr. 

Republican Bruce Bendish was supposed to face Rocah in the general election in November. But, Bruce Bendish dropped out of the race in September, making Rocah run unopposed in the general election.

Rocah was sworn in as the new Westchester County District Attorney by Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney who was fired by President Donald Trump on 4 January 2021. The swearing-in ceremony was held in the District Attorney press room due to the pandemic restrictions.

"Keep our community safe while making our system more fair, foster new ideas and rethink systems that no longer work, and help restore the public's confidence in our justice system," Rocah said after swearing-in. She also committed to revolutionize transparency and ethics in the District Attorney and fight for a safer and fairer criminal justice system for all the people of Westchester.

Awards and Honors

For her outstanding leadership and contribution to federal law, Rocah received the 'Women In Federal Law Enforcement Leadership Award' in 2016. She was the Pace University School of Law's distinguished criminal justice fellow.

Mimi Rocah Vs. Bernie Sanders

During an interview in July 2019, Rocah said that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders made her skin crawl. She also believed that Sanders is not a pro-women candidate. Sanders ran for the 2020 presidential election for the second time. Besides Rocah, there was a hostile relationship between Sanders' presidential campaign and MSNBC.

Personal Life

Rocah met attorney David Brian Anders in 2005 when working for the Southern District of New York. After dating for some time, they got married on 13 January 2007. Her husband, Anders, has been a Partner at a New York-based law firm called Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz since 2006. Previously, he worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The couple currently live in Scarsdale, New York, with their two children.