The President today announced his intention to nominate Abraham D. Sofaer to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State. He would succeed Davis Rowland Robinson.
Judge Sofaer is currently United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Previously, he was professor of law, Columbia University (1969-1979); hearing officer, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1975-1976); Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York (1967-1969); and law clerk to the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr., United States Supreme Court (1966-1967).
Judge Sofaer graduated from Yeshiva College (B.A., 1962) and New York University School of Law (LL.B., 1965). He is married, has four children, and resides in New York City. He was born May 6, 1938, in Bombay, India.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Abraham D. Sofaer To Be Legal Adviser of the Department of State Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/260261