Chief Judge Lippman Wants You to Like Him

Lippman has long list of reforms to pursue
The Journal News by Rebecca Baker - March 4, 2009

The key to having an impact on New York's court system, new Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman says, is getting people to like you. Particularly if they're in politics. "Up in Albany, you know, people come through these offices - 9 million people. You want to be someone who has a rapport, who people feel warmly about," he said. "Having that kind of entree, that relationship, helps you to do your business." As the new head of the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, Lippman's business is managing a sprawling judicial system long criticized for its political clubbiness and inefficiency. Lippman, who lives in Rye Brook, was sworn in Feb. 25 and has pledged to change the court system by continuing the reforms of his respected predecessor, Judith Kaye, who retired. But skeptics who have fought to improve the court system - and are aware of Albany's slow response to change - are taking a wait-and-see approach. "We'll see how he does in action," said Kent Yalowitz, a partner at the Manhattan-based firm Arnold & Porter. "Everyone has high hopes for him." Yalowitz's firm was part of a 2004 federal lawsuit claiming New York's political party-based system for choosing state trial judges was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the existing system, one that helped Lippman win his first election, but Yalowitz called the party-controlled selection a "sham." Lippman defended the state's 1,300 judges, those who are elected and those who are appointed by state officials. He said he thinks New York, overall, has the best judiciary in the country. "I think there are good judges - great judges - that come out of both systems," he said. "I believe that the goal should be to make both those systems more transparent and comprehensible to the public." Lippman, who has spent his entire career in the state court system, does not shy away from mentioning his friends in politics. He talked about growing up on the Lower East Side with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and he recalled working with Gov. David Paterson when Paterson was the state Senate's minority leader. "I'm pleased that, in my new role, I have so many relationships in the Legislature and the executive branch," he said. Lippman insists, however, that he is not partisan and works with officials from both parties. He said he would need their help to improve the courts by recruiting more Family Court judges, reconfiguring the indigent defense system, raising money for civil legal services, improving the probation system, and reforming town and village courts, among his many goals. "I think our good deeds is how the public judges us," he said. "That's how we want the public to view us." During his 12 years as the state's chief administrative judge, Lippman said, he was Kaye's "junior partner in reform" and worked with her to funnel more money into the court system, improve jury service, and create special courts for mental illness, drug abuse and domestic violence. Lippman, 63, has never been a prosecutor or defense attorney. He started as a law clerk and moved up to be the court system's deputy chief administrator. He was later appointed to the Court of Claims, then successfully ran for a state Supreme Court seat in the 9th Judicial District, which covers the Lower Hudson Valley.

Lippman, a Democrat, won that seat in a cross-endorsement deal brokered by the political leaders in the 9th Judicial District that benefited Republican Judge Joseph Alessandro. A state judicial ethics group has recommended Alessandro be removed from the bench, saying he tried to defraud his former campaign manager and then lied about it. Lippman served just two years on the state bench before then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer appointed him in 2007 to run a midlevel appeals court in Manhattan. Tuckahoe Village Justice David Otis Fuller Jr., a member of the state's Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts, said Lippman's lifelong career in the court system has led to relationships with political leaders that "can't help being advantageous" to the courts. "He has more of an outlook of someone who has been in the system for many years," said Fuller, past president of the state Magistrates Association. "If anyone can get things done, he'd be the one I'd put my confidence in." Lippman said there were ways to improve the court system that would not affect the state's cash-strapped budget. He wants to bring cameras inside local, county and state courtrooms, arguing that the more the public knows about what goes on inside, the more support the courts will get. The idea is unpopular among prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges, but Lippman said he could "find a formula" that would satisfy all sides. Lippman has experience reaching compromises. As chief administrative judge, he brokered a deal with county and state officials in 2004 to finish building the new Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains. The deal involved scaling back the project, securing extra state aid and issuing bonds to cover about $42 million in cost overruns. "I'd be the last to say to you that it wasn't contentious," Lippman said. "It was an adventure, to be sure. But, in the end, it was so worthwhile." Gary S. Brown, the former executive director of the Fund for Modern Courts, said he thought Lippman was the best person to try to make those much-needed reforms happen. "He offers as much hope as anyone," he said. "His years working with Kaye can only benefit him. He was learning from the master." Brown, now the director of the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection, said New York needs to streamline its 11 "inefficient" trial courts, improve special-treatment courts and modernize town and village courts, where some judges have no legal background and operate in makeshift buildings. He said Lippman would have an uphill task in getting lawmakers to spend money on those kinds of changes. "Not too many legislators get elected based on their position on court issues," he said. "But Jonathan Lippman knows the issues and knows the people and knows the history. He's proven he wants to change the system. I honestly believe he'll make every change he can."