Author: Jennifer Andrus

New York State Bar Association Begins Review of Candidates for Chief Judge

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Members of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee to Review Judicial Nominations are prepared to begin interviewing the nominees for chief judge that the Commission on Judicial Nomination submitted to Gov. Kathy Hochul today. The committee will schedule interviews of each candidate and give ratings of “well qualified, qualified, or not qualified.” President Sherry … Continued

Update on Structured Attorney Fees

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I recently wrote about structured legal fees for lawyers (see “Contingent Fee Tax Planning, Anyone?” NYSBA Journal, vol. 94, no. 5, Sept./Oct. 2022, p. 37). For nearly 30 years, plaintiff lawyers have been structuring contingent legal fees based on the seminal tax cases of Childs v. Commissioner.[1] Payments over time can flatten the peaks and … Continued

The ‘One Family, One Judge’ Court Model: Instituting Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in the United States

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For decades, New York courts have led innovation in the way domestic violence cases­ are addressed in the United States legal system.[1] Specifically, New York has been at the forefront of instituting specialized courts to handle domestic violence cases, giving courts one focus in handling the endemic of domestic violence.[2] In 1996, the first felony … Continued

Vivian Wesson on AI, Facial Recognition and the Law

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Technology can both help and hurt in the cause of justice. In a fascinating conversation, Vivian Wesson shares with host David Miranda how artificial intelligence and facial recognition are being used in both criminal and civil law. Wesson says the technology can unearth biases when it cannot distinguish between races of people and lead to … Continued

NYSBA President Says the Right to Counsel in New York Must Be More Than an Empty Promise

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Sherry Levin Wallach, president of the New York State Bar Association, issued the following statement regarding NYSBA’s filings seeking to have the court issue a preliminary injunction raising compensation for Attorneys for the Children and 18-B lawyers: “The state has disregarded the need to provide more funding for the representation of children and indigent adults … Continued

An Ode to a Woman Who Helped Pave Our Way

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“While we are impressed with your credentials, we are looking to hire a man for this position.” My grandmother Ada practiced law starting in the late 1940s in Brooklyn, New York. Grandma was born in Southern Italy and moved to the United States through Ellis Island when she was four years old. Her family settled … Continued

Dobbs v. Jackson: Changes in U.S. Global and Domestic Leadership for Women’s Rights  

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“In light of [the] worldwide liberalization of abortion laws, it is American States that will become international outliers after today.”[1] So concluded the dissenting United States Supreme Court Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan in their response to the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.[2] Dobbs, issued on June 24, 2022, tumultuously overturned … Continued