The Hon. Sharon M. LoVallo is a judge for the Erie County Family Court in the Eighth Judicial District of New York. She was first elected to the bench in 2012.
LoVallo earned a B.A. in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1990. She then continued her studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, where she completed a J.D. in 1994.
She began her legal career as an associate at Goldman, Costa, Getman & Biryla in 1993. LoVallo left the firm three years later in order to join the Office of the District Attorney of Erie County as an assistant district attorney. During her seven-year tenure there, she served in the Buffalo City Court Bureau (1996 to 1997) and the Erie County Grand Jury (1997 to 2000). She concluded her service with the Office of the District Attorney by working as an arson prosecutor with the Erie County Prosecution Bureau (2000 to 2003).
LoVallo was elected to serve as a judge for the Buffalo City Court in 2003. The following year, she became an acting county court judge, assigned to the Domestic Violence Division of the Buffalo City Court. Three years later, she was transferred to the Erie County Family Court, where she served as an acting judge until 2011.
Her memberships have included the NYS Association of City Court Judges, the Erie County Bar Association, and the NYS Women’s Bar Association. She has also served as director of the Women Lawyers of Western NY and as counsel for the International Association of Arson Investigators.
LoVallo has taught as an adjunct instructor at the New York State Academy of Fire Science from 2000 to 2003.
She is registered as a Democrat.