Sandra Day O’Connor took a break from retirement yesterday to judge a morning’s worth of cases in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The unusual visit from the recently retired Supreme Court justice drew law students and attorneys by the dozens to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

While federal judges frequently visit different circuits, the last time a former Supreme Court justice heard cases in New York was in 1992, when Justice Thurgood Marshall returned for a day.

Justice O’Connor, who served for 24 years on the nation’s highest court, was a quiet presence on the bench yesterday, though the attorneys arguing the cases said they were very aware of her presence. “It is always a privilege to appear before this court, but today is very special and we all recognize that,” an attorney, Daniel Kolb, said before he began his arguments.

Justice O’Connor gave him a stern look. She offered no reply to Mr. Kolb or the other attorneys who began their arguments with remarks directed her way.

The two other judges on the panel, Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs and Judge John Walker Jr., dominated the questioning in the five cases, the three-judge panel heard yesterday. For more than an hour at one point, Justice O’Connor observed silently, taking notes.

The cases included a lawsuit by a veteran suing the government over his health care and an appeal by three defendants convicted of a boiler room conspiracy after a 10-week trial.

The prosecutor in the boiler room case, Cynthia Monaco, seemed optimistic about Justice O’Connor’s reticence.

“She didn’t ask anything about the case because she was totally convinced by the brief,” Ms. Monaco said.