Kaye, 70, who left the Court of Appeals in December due to mandatory retirement rules, said she has to learn the landscape of a large law firm after her 25 years on the Court of Appeals and her more than 15 years as chief judge.
Kaye was a commercial law specialist and the first female partner at the now-defunct Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell & Weyher when she was nominated by then-Governor Mario Cuomo in 1983 to become the first female member of the Court of Appeals.
She will work out of Skadden’s New York headquarters.
Kaye earned an LL.B. from New York University School of Law in 1962. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1963.