Law.com - Chief Judge Writes N.Y. Governor to Deny Work ‘Slowdown’ by State’s Judges

Vesselin Mitev and Daniel Wise
New York Law Journal
April 30, 2008

Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye wrote New York Gov. David A. Paterson Tuesday to assure him that reports of judicial “slowdown” were “without basis.”

In addition, the court system’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion Monday determining that Kaye’s recent lawsuit to compel an increase in judicial salaries does not require judges to recuse themselves, but they may do so as a matter of individual conscience.

On Monday, Paterson cautioned the state’s judges against engaging in any tactic that would slow litigation in order to press their case for a raise. A day earlier The New York Post had reported that increasing numbers of judges, most of them upstate, were refusing to hear cases where law firms with state legislators as members are appearing before them.

In her letter to Paterson Tuesday, Kaye wrote, “while some judges have individually chosen to recuse themselves from matters in which legislators or their firms appeared before them, there has not been — nor will there be — an adverse impact on litigants.”
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Read entire article.

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Stimulus Payments Update

Starting May 2, your clients may be issued their payments. See the schedule.

Check the Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center on IRS.gov for updates.

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Department of State Move Date

The Department of State moved its Albany office to a new location on February 15th, 2008. Their new address is:

New York State Department of State
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12231

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and encourage individuals and communities to support children and families. Learn more about the history of the month, see examples of Presidential and State proclamations, and find strategies for engaging communities and supporting families.
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Visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway for more information and useful resources. (Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse)

Kaye Sues State Over Judicial Salaries

By Joel Stashenko and Daniel Wise
April 11, 2008

ALBANY - Stymied for a fourth straight fiscal year in securing a pay raise for state court judges, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye sued the Legislature and Governor David A. Paterson yesterday to force the first judicial salary increase in New York since 1999.

At about the time attorney Bernard W. Nussbaum was filing the complaint in Supreme Court in Manhattan at 60 Centre Street, Chief Judge Kaye and Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau (sent a message to the 1,300 judges saying that the exclusion of a pay raise in the budget adopted in Albany on Wednesday was the last straw.

“At this point, we are left with no choice but to take legal action to address this intolerable situation,” the judges said. They called the need to file a suit, first threatened by the chief judge in April 2007 but often cited by her since then as a last resort, as “regrettable.”

The complaint, Kaye v. Silver, names the chief judge and the Unified Court System as plaintiffs. The defendants are Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Mr. Paterson and the State of New York.

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The New York Law Journal - Kaye Sues State Over Judicial Salaries

RSVP for NDNY Admissions Ceremony, CLE & Luncheon on 4/10/08

Dear NDNY Member:

You are cordially invited to attend an admissions ceremony and free CLE program at the U.S. District Courthouse in Syracuse on Thursday, April 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The CLE topic is “Removal Jurisdiction - Making it a Federal Case” (1.5 hrs. CLE credit).

A complimentary luncheon at Pascale’s Restaurant with members of the Federal Judiciary will follow the CLE program.

Please see the invitation for additional details:

http://www.ndnyfcba.com/p/FCBA%20CLE%20Invitation%20(4.10.08).pdf

For CLE registration and lunch reservations, please RSVP by April 7th by e-mailingtmoyo@bsk.com.

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ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ Page

ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ

At ABA TECHSHOW 2008, they’re going “social” in a big way! They’re harnessing the power of the Internet to help their conference attendees communicate and network better with each other. This ABA TECHSHOW Buzz page will be a place where you can read blog posts, see pictures from the conference, follow updates from attendees, or even check out some of the websites being talked about at the show - all for free!

TECHSHOW BUZZ Page, its almost like being there–but cheaper.

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Thanks to Robert Ambrogi.

Video of The Supremes

LawProse, Inc. - Interviews of United States Supreme Court Justices

Interviews of United States Supreme Court Justices

In 2006-2007, Bryan Garner interviewed eight of the nine Justices about legal writing and advocacy. These are the complete interviews. Because the files are large, the videos may take a few moments to start playing.

LawProse is making these interviews available as a public service. Anyone may freely use these videos for educational purposes, with appropriate attribution to Bryan Garner or LawProse.