President Domenick Napoletano Speaks to Members
11.2.2024
Good morning.Before we begin – I want to take a moment to share some thoughts about our colleague Ariel Weinstock. Ariel passed this summer following a tragic car accident during our June 2023 House of Delegates Meeting in Cooperstown. It was Ariel’s first House Meeting as he was just beginning to share his time and talent as a member of the Real Property Section, just as his father – Ben – had done for many years.
We have lost a special person and Ariel is dearly missed. I had a chance to visit with his beautiful and adoring family while the family was sitting Shiva. Ariel was undoubtedly a talented lawyer. He was the only person ever hired by his firm (Katsky Korins) directly out of law school and he made partner quicker than anyone else in firm’s history.
However, when speaking with his family members and loved ones, what made the biggest impression on me is how they talked about his infectious laugh and his devotion to being a father, a husband, a brother and a son.
We extend our deepest sympathies to Ariel’s father, Ben, and to Ariel’s mother, Eileen, and to his wife Lauren and his children, Owen and Sadie. May we keep them in our thoughts and prayers and may Ariel’s memory always be a blessing.
At this time – I ask all of us to observe a moment of silence so we may privately reflect on our departed colleague.
Thank you.
Later in our program – President-Elect Kathleen Sweet will pay tribute to Maryann Saccomando Freedman – who as you know – was the first female president of our association. Maryann was a pioneer who assumed the presidency in 1987. She exemplified the power of courage by challenging preconceived notions of women in the legal profession. Her impact lives on through the talented and dedicated women that accompany me today on the dais – and throughout this room – a sight that would have been unimaginable only 37 years ago.
Kathleen – I am looking forward to your remarks.
The launch of our new membership model is among the most exciting and significant initiatives that we have undertaken in our nearly 150-year history.
It elevates the value of membership in our association more than ever, but more importantly, it helps all of us do our jobs more efficiently by allowing us to take advantage of our vast collection of forms, publications and continuing legal education classes for one single price.
The initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since we rolled this out to new members last month. (As of Tuesday) – 685 individuals have joined us who were not members last year and 3,857 others have already renewed for 2025. Also, 719 additional section memberships haven been purchased.
My sincere thanks to Michelle Wildgrube and Clotelle Drakeford, who chaired the Membership Committee last year, the entire committee and so many others who have worked tirelessly to put this initiative in motion.
I also want to give a shoutout to Michael McNamara and the Finance Committee, Treasurer Susan Harper and the NYSBA staff who worked diligently to ensure that the renovation project to our Bar Center stayed within budget.
Before we leave the topic of finance, it is my great pleasure to take a moment to recognize Kristin O’Brien, the association’s senior director of finance who is retiring at the end of this year after almost 27 years at the association. Kristin, we are grateful for your wise counsel and thank you for shepherding us into the secure financial position we find ourselves in today.
I want to address a decision the officers made regarding one of NYSBA’s attorney training programs. Thanks to the efforts of our volunteer instructors, including many of you, and our dedicated staff, our Trial Academy has had a positive impact on aspiring trial lawyers for many years. The program is unique because it’s a week-long live, interactive, intensive, trial experience, providing attendees with detailed fact patterns and an opportunity to provide and be critiqued on openings, closings, direct and cross examination, with live witnesses, before a panel of instructors. We generally have 40 to 50 participants each year and, for the most part, they find the experience to be valuable.
As you can imagine, the program is unique because of the level of attention each attendee receives. The number of instructors, volunteers, and staff required to put on this program often exceeds three times the number of attendees. The cost to the Association in staff time and attention is exorbitant.
In addition, in recent years, multiple attendees have raised concerns about the quality of the fact patterns and about how the program is run. This program needs an update and overhaul. This update is going to require substantial time and effort. In order to enable our staff to provide the time and attention necessary to make the transition to the Association’s new membership model successful, we are pausing the Trial Academy program for 2025.
I have asked Immediate Past President, Dick Lewis, Past President, Sharon Stern Gerstman, Timothy Fennell, and Treasurer Susan Harper to take a close look at reimagining the Trial Academy going forward and I will keep you updated on our progress. If you have any comments, questions, or thoughts to share about this program please contact me directly.
I am looking forward to seeing you at the New York Hilton Midtown where we’ll gather as colleagues and friends for a full docket of powerful discussions from Jan. 14 to 17.
We will present our most prestigious award – the Gold Medal – to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at the Presidential Gala where he will take part in a fireside chat.
Justice Breyer’s loyalty is to the rule of law and that is why he so richly deserves the Gold Medal.
Another of our major events, the Presidential Summit, will focus on the physical and emotional abuse inflicted on victims during war. Sexual violence has occurred throughout history because of a failure to prosecute those responsible. Panelists will discuss firsthand how we should hold the perpetrators accountable.
We will also have an update regarding the ongoing impact that AI is having on our profession. We will again hear from renowned experts – Bridget McCormack who is the President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association – and Katherine Forrest who is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Digital Technology Practice at Paul, Weiss.
This spring, we were proud to have Justice Sonia Sotomayor at our Civics Convocation where she shared her unique insights on the critical need to understand how government works so citizens know how to advocate for change.
I will note that at today’s meeting we will be voting on the report of the President’s Task Force on the 2024 Civics Convocation.
As you probably know, the 2024 legislative session was another successful one for us.
We lobbied for a bill that would exempt non-electronic notarial acts from the rigorous record-keeping requirements that were previously set forth by the Department of State. Our members played a key role in this by participating in a campaign that generated over 500 letters to members of the Legislature. The bill passed the Assembly and the Senate, and we are continuing to encourage the governor to sign it.
We also advocated for the Assigned Counsel rate increase that was again included in the budget for this year. This ensures that the state shares the cost burden with municipalities. However, we will continue to push for the state to fully fund this initiative going forward and insist that such backing is accompanied by a recurring rate increase.
We also pushed for several other bills that passed both houses of the Legislature including one that increases the number of Family Court Judges throughout the state and a bill that would expand use of e-filing in courts. We backed a bill that provides for state-paid justices and judges to receive death benefits even if they were not retired at the time of their passing and another that removes a lifetime ban on jury duty for convicted felons.
We have also launched a blue-ribbon Task Force on Opioid Addiction, which includes district attorneys, distinguished judges, prominent public defenders and leaders in addiction treatment programs. Mary Beth Morrissey will chair the task force that will recommend new laws and policies to address rampant opioid addiction.
One of my first initiatives when assuming the presidency was to take advantage of the talent we have in our sections and committees to develop proposals and recommendations that may be passed on to the Legislature.
The CPLR committee, together with our TICL and Trial Lawyers sections are working together to develop proposals that will address needed changes to the CPLR.
Our Criminal Justice Section led by Leah Nowotarski is exploring changes to the criminal procedure law while the Real Property Section is exploring ideas to help ensure that individuals do not have to wait months to appear before a judge in housing court, and our Torts committee is exploring changes to the archaic No Fault Law.
Another paramount concern of mine, without giving up my age, is age discrimination, which many lawyers over 50 inevitably face. Ageism’s negative and inaccurate stereotypes are so ingrained in our culture that they often go unnoticed. However, we are going to support this rapidly growing population, and we have a task force made up of the 50+ section, the Labor and Employment Section and the Committee on Civil Rights that is looking to right the wrong.
We can take pride in all our many accomplishments. I thank you once again for your efforts and support.
