Van Voorhis was admitted to the bar in 1922, and commenced the practice of law in
Rochester, New York. He was town attorney of Irondequoit from 1928 to 1933 and again in 1936. That year, he was elected to the
New York Supreme Court (7th District), and re-elected in 1950. He sat on the
Appellate Division (4th Dept.) from 1947 on. In
1944, he ran on the
Republican ticket for the
New York Court of Appeals, but was defeated by Democrat
Marvin R. Dye. On April 23, 1953, Van Voorhis was appointed by Governor
Thomas E. Dewey to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of
Edmund H. Lewis as
Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. In
November 1953, Lewis was elected chief judge, and on January 1, 1954, Van Voorhis was re-appointed to the seat. In
November 1954, he ran on the Republican and
Democratic tickets to succeed himself, and was elected. He retired from the bench at the end of 1967 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law and taught at
New York Law School. He died on November 25, 1983. Congressman
John Van Voorhis (1826–1905) was his grandfather. ==See also==