Biography

The Hon. David W. Foley is a judge for the Chautauqua County Court in the Eighth Judicial District of New York. He was elected to the County Court bench in 2016. He filled the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. John Ward (Ret.).

Judge Foley received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1989. He went on to earn both his J.D. and M.S.L. from Vermont Law School in 1992.

After graduating from law school, Foley began his legal career in private practice. As a third-generation lawyer in Chautauqua County, he first practiced as an attorney at his family’s law firm Foley, Foley, and Passafaro in 1993.

Then, after two years at the firm, Foley left to enter the public arena, joining the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney in 1995. At the time, he served as a prosecutor alongside his father, Bill Foley, until his father retired from the D.A.’s office in 1998. In 2005, after serving as an assistant district attorney for ten years, Foley was appointed by former Governor George Pataki to serve as the District Attorney in Chautauqua County. After serving his initial four-year term, he was subsequently re-elected to two more terms as the head prosecutor in the county and remained in that capacity until his election to the County Court bench in 2016.