It's been an unsettling 2022-23 term at the New York Court of Appeals. First, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore abruptly resigned right before the arguments began in September 2022, following an ethics investigation into whether she interfered in the disciplinary proceedings of one of her biggest detractors. Then, after the Commission on Judicial Nomination produced a …
The NY Senate Judiciary Committee Refuses to Advance the Nomination of Presiding Justice LaSalle for a Floor Vote. What Now?
These are truly uncharted waters. After a 4 hour and 45 minute hearing of unwithering questioning before the NY Senate Judiciary Committee, where Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle reaffirmed his commitment to reproductive and union rights and ensuring all litigants, including criminal defendants, get a fair shot before the courts, the Judiciary Committee took the unprecedented …
Governor Hochul Nominates Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle to be New York’s First Latino Chief Judge!
In an announcement today, New York Governor Kathy Hochul nominated Second Department Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle to be New York's next Chief Judge. Governor Hochul lauded LaSalle in her nomination statement, noting that “New York’s Court of Appeals has a long history as a beacon of justice, and Judge LaSalle is an outstanding jurist in …
Who Should New York Hail as the Next Chief Judge of the State?
It's not every day that New York gets to pick a new Chief Judge of the State to lead the court system in new directions and head the State's top court. In fact, since the Commission on Judicial Nomination was created in 1977, it has had the chance to send the Governor only six lists …
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Chief Judge Janet DiFiore Announces Her Resignation from the New York Court of Appeals
In a surprising announcement, New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore revealed that she would resign from her middle seat on the Court of Appeals bench three years before she would have been forced into mandatory retirement. When the Chief Judge steps out of Court of Appeals Hall on August 31, 2022, her resignation will be …
New York Court of Appeals: Screenshot or It Didn’t Happen
When text messages are deleted and can't be retrieved from someone's phone, what's the best way to prove in court what the messages said? According to the New York Court of Appeals today in People v Rodriguez, screenshots of the text messages can be introduced into evidence when they are properly authenticated by someone with …
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Daily Fantasy Sports are Constitutional in New York!
After 5 years of litigation, and countless sleepless nights in DraftKings and FanDuel offices (I assume), the New York Court of Appeals today held that daily fantasy sports is constitutional. And, as I thought might have been the case, the deciding vote for DFS's constitutionality was cast not by a Judge of the Court of …
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Could the Court of Appeals Overrule its Jurisdictional Barrier to Review of Unpreserved Questions of Law Reached and Decided by the Appellate Division?
Wednesday at the Court of Appeals' oral arguments, a fascinating, albeit super nerdy, procedural issue came up in Moore Charitable Foundation v PJT Partners. At the end of the appellant's argument time, Judge Garcia asked a simple, unassuming question that likely would have been missed by most everyone watching. He asked the appellant, "Don't you …
New York Daily Fantasy Sports Suit: Reargument at the Court of Appeals May Have Revealed a Fourth Vote to Preserve DFS’s Constitutionality
When the case challenging the constitutionality of daily fantasy sports in New York was reargued yesterday, after the New York Court of Appeals likely split 3-3 following the first argument last fall, three things stood out. First was the absence of now retired Court of Appeals Judge Eugene Fahey. At the first argument in October, …
The Commission on Judicial Nomination’s List of Candidates to Replace Judge Eugene Fahey on the New York Court of Appeals is Exciting!
With December 31st fast approaching, and Associate Judge Eugene Fahey's time on the Court of Appeals waning now that he turned 70 years old last month, the Commission on Judicial Nomination released its list of seven candidates to potentially take Judge Fahey's seat next year. With Judge Fahey being the last Judge on the Court …
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