The building occupies a full block of Delaware Avenue at Niagara Square, directly across from the Statler Towers and adjacent to Buffalo City Hall.

[1] The courthouse replaced a block of structures previously occupying the site, the most notable being the 1927 Erlanger theater building built by Statler Hotels.

[2] Although expected to be opened by July 2010, construction of the building had been held back a year following concerns regarding the glass panel façade and a moisture problem.

[1] The courthouse pavilion lobby contains monumental colored glass panels designed by Buffalo-area native Robert Mangold, a major figure in the geometric abstraction movement.

[1] In December 2011, Congressman Brian Higgins introduced a bill, naming the courthouse for Robert H. Jackson, the only Western New Yorker to serve as Supreme Court Justice.