Biography of Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., became District Attorney of New York County on January 1, 2010. Mr. Vance is a recognized leader in criminal justice reform and proposed a compelling vision for moving the District Attorney's Office forward, with a focus on crime prevention.

Mr. Vance began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan DA's Office during the high-crime era of the 1980’s. As an ADA, Mr. Vance handled cases involving murder, organized crime, political corruption, and white-collar crime. After leaving the DA’s Office, Mr. Vance and his wife Peggy McDonnell moved to Seattle, where Mr. Vance co-founded McNaul Ebel Nawrot Helgren & Vance, PLLC, which under his joint leadership became one of the pre-eminent litigation firms in the Northwest. During his time in Seattle, Mr. Vance taught trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law.

Mr. Vance returned to New York in 2004 and became a partner at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C. Mr. Vance is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He served by appointment of the Governor of New York as a member of the New York State Appellate Division, First Department, Judicial Screening Panel, and was a member of the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform. Mr. Vance previously served as a member of the Criminal Justice Council of the New York City Bar Association, the Federal Bar Council, and the New York Council of Defense Lawyers. He was a member of the Boards of Directors of the Fund for Modern Courts, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation.

Mr. Vance was born and raised in Manhattan, and is a graduate of Yale University and Georgetown University Law School. He and his wife live on the Upper West Side, and have two children, both currently in college.