In addition to practicing law, Skinner began a career in government and politics when he served as clerk of the Litchfield County Probate Court from 1796 to 1806.
Skinner later moved to Sandy Hill, where he practiced law and served as a justice of the peace and district attorney.
A lifelong bachelor, as a judge Skinner shared an Albany home with attorney and politician Martin Van Buren, who was a widower.
[1] He was educated in Litchfield, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and entered private practice in Connecticut.
[1][2] Among the students who learned the law from him after his move to New York were Silas Wright[4] and Judge Esek Cowen of Saratoga Springs.
[1][10] Upon ascending the bench, Skinner sold his law office to Benjamin Franklin Butler, who took over his clients and his pending business.
[12] Van Buren and Skinner were Democratic-Republicans; when Van Buren created the Albany Regency clique to lead New York's Bucktails (the anti-DeWitt Clinton faction that eventually became New York's Democratic Party), Skinner was counted among its members.
[15] Clinton had long been identified among the public as the canal's biggest proponent; voter outrage at his removal led to his return to the governorship in the 1824 election.
[16] In 1857, he was reinterred in Martin Van Buren's family plot at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 62, Lot 34.