The New York State Bar Association presented Shelley Wu, a champion of women and children’s rights, with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Scholarship during its House of Delegates meeting April 1 in Albany. Wu is a third-year law school student at the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Wu ranks in the top 10% … Continued
A Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on Thursday. The exact charge is unclear because the indictment remains under seal but the investigation was about payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital affair. The case puts District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the national spotlight. In December 2021, … Continued
Joseph Gerstenzang is a partner at Gerstenzang, Sills, Cohn & Gerstenzang. He is member of the Criminal Justice Section and a frequent panelist at NYSBA programs. Gerstenzang’s firm primarily handles DWI, DWAI and drugs defense. He comes from a family of attorneys including his parents Peter and Karen Gerstenzang and two siblings who are attorneys. … Continued
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
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
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
The Commission on Judicial Nomination will be accepting applicants for chief judge until March 7. The clerk of the Court of Appeals informed the commission that there continues to be a vacancy in the position of chief judge given the state Senate’s rejection Wednesday of Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle, Appellate Division, Second Department. The vacancy … Continued
Sherry Levin Wallach, president of the New York State Bar Association, issued the following statement about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed changes to bail reform in her 2023-24 executive budget: “We are deeply concerned by the rollbacks in bail reform that Gov. Kathy Hochul has put in the state budget; it is a significant policy matter … Continued
Implicit Bias. It’s an issue we discuss often, but what does it mean in the context of choosing a jury? The Criminal Justice Section held a panel during Annual Meeting to discuss how implicit bias should be handled during voir dire. With recent changes to jury instructions including a mandatory video presented to prospective jurors, … Continued
Sherry Levin Wallach, president of the New York State Bar Association, issued the following statement today following the release of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023-24 executive budget proposal: “Gov. Kathy Hochul recognized the need for increased pay for assigned counsel in New York State. But her proposal calling for lower rates upstate relative to downstate is … Continued