T

• Author: Elizabeth Smith/Mark Thompson
• Pages: 299-325

TADDEO, ANN MARIE

Justice, Seventh Judicial District Supreme

Court, Monroe County

Appointment/Election: Elected to the

Supreme Court in 2005; current term expires

in 2018.

Admission: NYS, Appellate Division,

Fourth Department, 1976.

Education: J.D., State University of New

York at Buffalo School of Law.

Address: Supreme Court

Hall of Justice

99 Exchange Street, Room 514

Rochester, NY 14614

Phone: (585) 371-3719

Fax: (585) 784-4213

Law Clerk: Donald Scardino

Secretary: Patti Whitcroft

ATTORNEYS’ COMMENTS

TEMPERAMENT/DEMEANOR

Justice Taddeo is “delightful,” said one of

the attorneys interviewed about her. “She

engages you personally and brings your per-

sonal life and her personal life onto the play-

ing field. To some extent, that can help

defuse the difficulty of your case, and that’s

kind of nice.” In chambers, the attorney

added, “it’s an informal kind of experience.”

Another interviewee said, “She’s very easy to

work with,” while a third interviewee added,

“I had some pleasant dealings with her.” One

interviewee, in contrast with all others, was

critical of Justice Taddeo. That attorney

asserted that she “just snapped” in one case.

“I don’t dislike her but she should not be

there,” said the attorney and added, “I’ve

heard her snapping at a lot of people.”

ON THE BENCH

Most interviewees offered high praise for

Justice Taddeo’s performance on the bench.

“I have found her to be an exceptional jurist.

I can’t say enough good things about her. I

think she’s on the high end of the bench,”

said one interviewee. A second interviewee

said, “My impression of her is very positive.”

Three other attorneys said she is “very intelli-

gent,” “knows the law” and “seems to have an

excellent head on her shoulders.” An attor-

ney who has “known her for many years”

added, “I have always found her to be a very

competent jurist, as she was in the practice

of law. Her father and brother are both

lawyers in this community. She’s a very good

judge. She had experience in the District

Attorney’s office as well. She could do almost

anything.” Another attorney added, “I have

had many, many, many matrimonial cases

with her, and she did an excellent job.”

However, the same interviewee who com-

plained about Justice Taddeo asserted, “I

don’t think she studies hard. I think she

shoots from the hip. I don’t think she’s com-

petent. I don’t think that she knows the law.”

ONTRIAL

One attorney who has appeared before

Justice Taddeo in trial proceedings said, “She

sees through what are really illusory defens-

es and claims and gets to the heart of the

case. She sees through obfuscation by coun-

sel, and she will react in a not inappropriate

fashion. Her decisions have been favorable to

me, but I think that she’s even-handed in her

decisions.” Another attorney said, “I have not

had her in a trial, but my partner has. He

has enjoyed her in the trial setting. She is a

person that will allow both sides—prosecu-

tion and defense—to explore their facts.” A

third interviewee added, “I’ve never gone

through a full trial with her, but I’ve been in

enough contested proceedings to have a good

idea of where she is in that sort of proceed-

ing. She is very even-tempered.” An attorney

who tried cases before her when she was in

matrimonial court said, “She runs her court

efficiently. She understands working with

attorneys and working with the people.”

Another attorney who handled many matri-

monial cases in her court said most were

resolved between the attorneys and in cham-

bers; “but when we did go into court, that

was fine. It was no problem at all. I had a

couple of cases with her where we had to

take testimony in court, but they were usual-

ly the type of case where we had worked out

a settlement and all we had to do was put it

on the record. That was never a problem in

her court.”

SETTLEMENTS

An attorney who has had a number of

matrimonial cases in Justice Taddeo’s court

said, “Typically we have settled them in her

chambers. We may have a case that goes on

for a couple of years or more, but at the end

Profiles Taddeo 785

of the day, it is generally resolved with a

back and forth exchange between counsel

and Justice Taddeo. I wouldn’t call her the

mediator, but she functions to get the par-

ties to get real. She has a different style of

working with the attorneys” than other

judges have. “She brings a degree of person-

ality that you appreciate because you can

talk with her without being distracted by the

fear factor that you may have with some

other judges.” A second interviewee said,

“She is proactive about settling cases, but

she knows where to draw the line. There

have been times when I would have liked for

her to have pushed a little harder, but step-

ping back from the case after the case was

over, I think she was right to have backed

off.” A third attorney had a pending case

before her in which she had scheduled an

upcoming settlement conference, “so I know

that she does take an interest in it.”

ADJOURNMENTS/CONTINUANCES

None of the attorneys interviewed about

Justice Taddeo had any complaints about

how she handles requests for extensions of

time. “She is very accommodating about

adjournments—not overly so, but when an

adjournment is warranted, she will without

hesitation grant it,” one attorney said.

Another attorney said, “She was very reason-

able on scheduling in matrimonial cases, and

I had many before her.” That attorney added

that she would not leave cases adrift. “She

would give you an adjournment for several

weeks to try to resolve issues, and then she

would bring you back in. She would kind of

keep the pressure on you to try to work out a

fair resolution of the case,” the attorney said.

A third interviewee said, “I have had no prob-

lem with her on adjournments or scheduling.”

PROCLIVITIES

Justice Taddeo is “thoughtful, and she is

very compassionate,” one interviewee said.

Another added, “She tries very hard to be

very fair.” An attorney who had a number of

cases before her when she was assigned to a

matrimonial part agreed that she is a “fair”

judge. A fourth interviewee said, “I had plain-

tiffs and defendants in cases in her court,

and she was fair to both sides. She would

really do what she could do to try to get a fair

and reasonable settlement.” The lone inter-

viewee who complained about Justice Taddeo

focused on matters of style and her activities

off the bench rather than results, acknowl-

edging that, in court, she treated each side

the same way. The attorney noted that she

once ran for District Attorney of Monroe

County and mounted an “incompetent” cam-

paign in which she tried to stir up fears

about “terrorism” on the streets of Rochester.

“What she meant was that there is too much

crime in Rochester, but she was totally

unprepared and she lost in a heavily

Republican district.” In court, that attorney

added, “She screamed at me, saying, ‘If you

had done this right the first time, we would

not be here now.’ Then she gave me every-

thing I asked for. She also screamed at the

other guy. He didn’t deserve it, but she want-

ed him to know she was treating each side

equally. My client got everything he wanted.

He was happy, but I wasn’t happy.”

SUGGESTIONS/SUMMARY

Justice Taddeo has an informal style of

judging, attorneys said. She is delightful and

engaging, but she also is able to “see through

obfuscation” by attorneys. She is a knowledge-

able, competent jurist. By some accounts, she

has an unusual style of encouraging settle-

ments (without necessarily intervening direct-

ly) by nudging the parties to “get real” and by

giving relatively brief adjournments to give the

attorneys more time to work things out. She is

even-handed and gives all sides a fair shake,

interviewees said. (12A)

TAIT, JEFFREY A.

Justice, Sixth Judicial District Supreme

Court, Broome County

Appointment/Election: Elected to the

Supreme Court in 2004; current term expires

in 2017.

Previous Experience: Partner, Pope,

Tait, & Murphy; Partner, O’Connor, Gacioch,

& Pope.

Admission: NYS, Appellate Division, Third

Department, 1980.

Teaching/Lectures/Publications:

Adjunct Lecturer, State University of New

York at Binghamton, 1984-1994.

786 Tait New York Judge Reviews