President Domenick Napoletano Speaks to Members
1.17.2025
Dear Colleagues:
It is wonderful to be here again at the New York Hilton Midtown.
I hope you have enjoyed the 2025 Annual Meeting and that the superlative CLE Programs, moving awards ceremonies and engaging social and networking events have demonstrated once again how your membership benefits you professionally and personally.
It was a pleasure to have retired Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on hand to accept the Gold Medal and share insights on his career and judicial philosophy during a fireside chat at the Plaza Hotel. I was so glad to see so many of you there celebrating with me last night.
Our work often brings us together, but many times on different sides of the aisle. However, addressing the most pressing issues we face is where we find common ground. That is partly what makes our Annual Meeting so special – we come together to collaborate on challenging issues because in the words of our First President John K. Porter:
“We are strengthened by association with each other. The standard of professional integrity and honor is elevated by mutual intercourse, and by the consciousness that our own status is determined by the enlightened judgment of our brethren.”
Those words resonate today.
And when I think of professional integrity – I immediately think of Past President Justin Vigdor who recently passed away at the age of 95.
Justin served as our President in 1985 and 1986. He founded our Senior Lawyers Section, (now called 50-Plus) served on dozens of non-profit boards, won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Bar Foundation, worked as a lawyer for over 70 years, and was an icon in the Rochester community.
He will be missed dearly. Past President Vince Buzard has prepared a tribute to Justin. I am looking forward to hearing your reminiscences, Vince.
While Justin had the chance to be with us for a very long time, our esteemed colleague Ariel Weinstock was only attending his first House of Delegates meeting in Cooperstown in June of 2023 when he was struck by a car. He died a year later from complications of his traumatic brain injury at the very young age of 42.
Ariel received an attorney professionalism award at yesterday’s Real Property Law Section Awards Luncheon, and I had the honor of presenting it to his father, Ben, who is a very active member of our association and a fine colleague. Ariel lived only a short time but accomplished so much.
It has been a pivotal 12 months for our association.
Our new Membership Model launched successfully. I am pleased that so many people have joined and that it is helping our sections grow in both membership and influence. I am also pleased that the new Membership Model makes your jobs more efficient by providing free and easy access to our renowned educational programming, forms and publications.
Our Task Forces and Committees have been busy studying issues and working on reports.
The fine work we’re doing is only possible because you selflessly offer your time and talent to ensure that our work stands out. Our association is held in the highest regard by courts and public officials throughout the country for one reason – the dedication of our members.
Our Task Force on Opioid Addiction is taking a holistic approach to this complex problem to gain a greater appreciation of what is driving the growing rates of addiction. It is looking to balance the need for prosecution and the need for treatment.
We are dedicated to revamping procedural rules, so they align better with how modern practices operate.
The upcoming year will present outstanding opportunities for the New York State Bar Association.
In Washington, our leaders will continue to engage with Congress and the Presidential Administration to implement our federal legislative priorities. They include adequate funding for the courts, the right to appointed counsel for immigrants during legal proceedings, the expansion of background checks for buyers of firearms, a ban on assault weapons, and the rights of women to abortion services.
Our state efforts will focus on urging the passage of legislation that secures the right to counsel for families and children, immigrant New Yorkers and homeowners. We will also support funding for indigent legal services while ensuring full state funding and annual increases in the rates paid to 18-B attorneys. We will also continue to encourage the passage of legislation that supports terminally ill patients’ rights to medical aid in dying.
In addition, we will continue to support an expanded eligibility period of student loan relief for Indigent Legal Services attorneys and will continue to advocate for the repeal of burdensome notary record keeping requirements.
We are also aiming to address the backlogs in Housing Courts where thousands of New Yorkers find themselves in litigation. This issue prevents landlords and tenants from having their cases heard in a timely manner. We are urging the Legislature to establish a right to counsel for low-income tenants because justice works better for everyone when all parties are represented by an attorney.
Our Task Force on Homelessness and the Law – that my predecessor Dick Lewis formed – is tackling mental illness, and yes, addiction. Our state has one of the highest housing costs in the country as one in five households is forced to direct more than half its income towards housing.
We are continuing our dialogue with the Office of Court Administration and our political leaders. We can leverage our influence, which everyone has helped build, to continue to open doors to the most distinguished legislative and judicial offices throughout the state and the country.
Also, the continuing education of attorneys is a priority for us. However, it is in our best interest to examine how we engage younger lawyers to ensure that our methods are aligned with how they prefer to learn in a modern environment. It is imperative that we address their needs because they are our future leaders.
Looking ahead, we are preparing to celebrate our 150th Anniversary. We have a noble history and so many accomplishments to be proud of.
One of our first successful efforts appropriately came in 1896 through the formation of a partnership with law students and faculty to successfully obtain legislation that established a uniform state bar examination.
Some 50 years later, at the end of World War 2, the New York State Bar Association organized a corps of lawyers throughout the state to provide legal assistance to military members. Then another 50 years later – in the aftermath of 9/11 – we were out front to help find resources for lawyers who had their offices shut down or destroyed in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
We have also benefited from so many excellent leaders. Our Past Presidents include former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes and U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root.
And while – like many other professions — it took more than century for us to elect Maryann Saccomando Freedman as our first female president, I am proud to be in the presence of three outstanding female leaders on the dais.
We undoubtedly have experienced all types of political winds, but we have always operated on consensus and have always held steadfast to our goal of promoting equal access to justice for everyone.
Thank you for all your efforts.
