Another Effort to Simplify Corrupt Structure of Courts

State Bar Joins Call for Constitutional Amendment to Simplify Structure of Courts
The New York Law Journal by John Caher  -  May 30, 2012

ALBANY, NY - In the latest multi-decade effort to reconfigure New York's archaic court structure, the New York State Bar Association is joining about 50 legal organizations, business leaders, good government groups and citizens calling for a constitutional amendment. The proposed amendment would consolidate the state's unwieldy court system into two tiers. It would merge county court, family court, surrogate's court and the Court of Claims into a new Supreme Court, while creating a new district court comprised of the district courts on Long Island and city courts. The measure would not affect the town and village courts.  A "Coalition for Court Simplification" has been established by the Fund for Modern Courts and on Tuesday, State Bar President Vincent Doyle Jr. of Connors & Vilardo in Buffalo announced that the bar will join the coalition. Other members include the African Services Committee, the Business Council of New York, the Lawyers Committee Against Domestic Violence, the League of Women Voters, the New York City Bar Association, New York County Lawyers' Association and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Crime Victims Treatment Center. "The existing court structure no longer adequately serves the citizens of New York," said Doyle. Now, a contested divorce with child custody and domestic violence issues could involve three different courts: Supreme Court to address the marital dissolution and financial issues; Family Court to deal with child custody and county court to handle domestic violence and order of protection issues. "The labyrinth of overlapping jurisdictions of multiple courts creates unnecessary financial burdens and delays for millions of litigants. It needs to be changed," Doyle said.  The coalition is co-chaired by former state bar president, Stephen Younger of Patterson, Bellknap, Webb & Tyler, and Fern Schair of Fordham Law School.

Advocates, many lawmakers and chief judges dating back at least to the 1970s have been struggling to re-cast a court system created at a time when Brooklyn was a cow pasture. According to the coalition, revamping the court system would save taxpayers $121 million annually while saving litigants $433 million a year in attorney fees.  Milton Williams, chairman of Modern Courts, said the organization is attempting to keep the issue alive and increase momentum.  "It is a massive issue with so many different angles and components that it is hard to have everyone on the same page at the same time," said Williams, of Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Englehard. "We are able to accomplish some goals immediately and others where we have to keep chipping away. This is one we just keep chipping away at."  Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State, said her organization joined the coalition because it views court simplification partially as an economic/ government efficiency issue.  "As part of our reform agenda, we support government consolidation, and this is an obvious one," said Briccetti, an attorney. "A secondary reason is we represent employers and when an employee is going through a difficult time, like a divorce, we think it would be better for the employee and employer if they only had to go to one court versus maybe three. Also, our members are sometimes involved in lawsuits and we think having a simplified court system will save them money and time."  Although there is no court consolidation bill now before the Legislature, Briccetti said she believes the reform effort is closer to success than it has been as a result of the broad scope of interests reflected in the coalition.  "There is a real push to build a strong coalition," Briccetti said. "We've got the state and city bar associations on board and lot of diverse interests. I think it has a better shot now than it has in the past."  Mark Mahoney, spokesman for the state bar, said that although there is no pending legislation to amend the state Constitution, the organization hopes to generate interest this session. Several lawmakers have repeatedly stated their support for court consolidation. Amending the Constitution requires action by successive legislatures followed by a public referendum. Since this is the last year of a session, if the currently sitting Legislature passed a measure this year and the body elected in November passes it next year, it could appear on the ballot as early as 2013.  @|John Caher can be reached at jcaher@alm.com