Help Wanted: State Seeking Its Next Chief Judge
The New York Sun by JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN - June 19, 2008
Who wants to be the state's next chief judge?
ASSOCIATED PRESS by Mike Groll
Chief Judge Judith Kaye speaks during a news conference at the New York State Bar Association at Albany on March 31.
For New York's most ambitious lawyers, the dream job has finally opened up. New York's longtime chief judge, Judith Kaye, is retiring after 15 years in her current position. The state officially announced yesterday that it is looking for a replacement. This job posting is not going to go unanswered. Appointments to the state's top court, the Court of Appeals, are ultimately made by the governor, who is limited to choosing from seven candidates put forward by a state commission. To be considered by the commission, a candidate must apply. With a current salary of $156,000, the job of presiding over the state judiciary would bring a drastic pay cut for many would-be applicants who are partners at major law firms. But a raise may be forthcoming, after a state judge last week ordered the Legislature to up judicial pay.
Many of those who have applied for past Court of Appeals vacancies are already judges of the lower courts. Repeat candidates include Judge James Yates, who, in the span of a month earlier this year, both accepted and subsequently turned down the job of counsel to the governor, as well as Judge Richard Andrias, who sits on a mid-level appellate court in Manhattan. Another likely candidate, courthouse sources say, is Judge Jonathan Lippman, who previously served as Chief Judge Kaye's top administrator. The commission that will vet candidates, the Commission on Judicial Nomination, is made up of 12 members. The governor and chief judge each appoint four members of the commission, while legislators in top posts of the Assembly and Senate fill the remaining four spots. This year's commission is an assemblage of lawyers, judges, and professors. A close adviser to Governor Pataki, John O'Mara, heads it. The deadline for receipt of applications is September 8.
I wonder they will pick the most corrupt one to live up to Judge Kaye's standards as a corrupt judge
ReplyDeleteIf it comes from this present group of Kaye players...it won't be pretty!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a new and fresh face, picked by a new commission of non-lawyers..but it looks like that won't happen. So... I think the court can run without a chief..what did she do anyway, but corrupt any good the court had left...leave it blank!
Working for the courts for years with loser and stupid hacks..it ran with our knowledge..we never asked for any help from supervisors..including the administrative judge!
If you want the court system to be cleaned up it's not a good thing to have ANY of Pataki's people picking the new chief judge.
ReplyDeleteplease not Jonathan "The Lip" Lippman, anybody but him! The NYS Court System will never recover.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't it be someone outside of NYC...or won't they survive? A fresh looking judge, from an old country town..may work! All the names mentioned are tainted...got to come from somewhere that has a little ethics left!
ReplyDeleteis there anywhere in NY state where there are any ETHICS LEFT?
ReplyDeleteNo one presently working within OCA or anyone close to them...look throughout the state..it is the only way! Beaver St. is the perfect name for an OCA address!
ReplyDeleteA circus clown would be better than who we have now. And a circus clown, or elephant trainer, would also be better that the person who was supposed to be next-- Jonathan Lippman, and as anointed as such by Shelly Silver. But then Spitzer pulled his little boner (no pun intended). We'll see what happens.
ReplyDelete