W

• Author: Elizabeth Smith/Mark Thompson
• Pages: 331-355

WALKER, TIMOTHY J.

Presiding Justice, Commercial Division,

Eighth Judicial District

Judge, New York State Court of Claims,

Eighth Judicial District

Justice, Eighth Judicial District Supreme

Court

Appointment/Election: Appointed by

Governor George Pataki in 2006.

Previous Experience: New York State

Supreme Court Justice, Eighth Judicial

District; Town Councilman, Town of Eden,

NY, 2001-2005; Town Prosecutor, Town of

Eden, NY, 1996-2000. Law practice,

Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Buffalo, Erie

County, NY (Partner, 1996-2006; Associate,

1991-1996).

Honors and Memberships: Member: Order

of the Coif, 1988-Present; Immaculate

Conception Church, Eden, NY, 1995-Present.

Former Member: Eden Central School Dist.,

Board of Education, 2000-2006 (President,

2003-2006); W.N.Y. United Against Drugs and

Alcohol Abuse Foundation, Inc., Buffalo, NY,

1997-2006 (Secretary, 1999-2001; Treasurer,

2001-2005; Board Member, 1997-2006).

Admission: Admitted to New York State

Bar on Jan. 12, 1989; U.S. Dist. Court,

Western Dist. of New York, Oct. 1, 1991;

Eastern Dist., June 27, 2000; Northern Dist.,

April 28, 1999; Southern Dist., June 27,

2000; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit,

Nov. 13, 1995; U.S. Bankruptcy Court, West

Dist. of New York, Oct. 1, 1991.

Education: J.D., University of Toledo

College of Law (1988; Magna Cum Laude,

Order of the Coif, Law Review); B.S.,

S.U.N.Y., Buffalo, NY (1985; Cum Laude).

Biographical Data: Born July 31, 1963

in Buffalo, NY. Married; two children.

Enjoys reading, walking and spending time

with family.

Recent Noteworthy Decisions: Settco,

LLC v. USA Niagara Development Corp.

(Sup.Ct. Niagra County) (Index No. 2003-

115590); Violet Realty, Inc. v. City of Buffalo

Common Council, et al. (Sup.Ct. Erie County)

(Index No. 2006-7429); John C. Dillenburg, III

v. The State of New York (Sup.Ct. Chautauqua

County) (Index No. KI-2003-1208).

Special Rules: Civility, punctuality and

brevity.

Address: 25 Delaware Avenue, Part 22

Buffalo, NY 14202

Phone: (716) 845-7479

Fax: (716) 851-3440

E-Mail: tjwalker@courts.state.ny.us

IAS Part Clerk: John Garbo

Law Clerk: Darryl Colosi, Esq.

Secretary: Cynthia A. Sardina

ATTORNEYS’ COMMENTS

TEMPERAMENT/DEMEANOR

Most of the attorneys interviewed about

Justice Walker had no complaints about his

demeanor. “He is a breath of fresh air,” said

one attorney. “I think his demeanor is good.

He is cordial,” said a second attorney who

added, “I have no problems whatsoever with

his demeanor.” A third attorney said, “His

demeanor was fine.” A fourth interviewee, in

contrast, said, “He has what I called ‘robe-

itis.’ He is an arrogant, pedantic, conde-

scending know-it-all.”

ON THE BENCH

Two plaintiff’s attorneys interviewed about

Justice Walker complained that he is biased

against plaintiffs. But a majority of intervie-

wees, including several plaintiff’s attorneys,

praised his performance on the bench. One of

the interviewees with a favorable view of

Justice Walker said, “Recently I had some

motions with him. It was complex stuff. He

was really innovative and practical, and he

helped us move things along.” Another attor-

ney said, “I think he is a very good judge. He

is very smart. He is efficient. He has a good

command of the courtroom.” A third attorney

said, “I have had a number of cases in front of

him. He is a guy who wants to get cases

accomplished. He is not afraid to grant a

summary judgment motion. A lot of judges

don’t want to do that. But if you provide him

the right information and the right law, he

will make hard decisions. I like his style, but

it has some risks to it,” said the attorney who

recalled a complicated case involving a dis-

pute over property titles wherein his client

lost on a summary judgment motion in

Justice Walker’s court. “I ran a lot of title

searches and when I finished my research, I

concluded that Walker was incorrect. So we

made a motion to reargue and a motion to

Profiles Walker 817

renew and we filed an appeal with him and

argued that for an hour and a half with the

other attorney in front of Walker. In that situ-

ation, you have to show that the judge misap-

prehended the law. You have to go in there

and tell the judge he made a mistake, which

is not an easy thing. At the conclusion of the

hour and half, the judge said, ‘I made a mis-

take and I am reversing myself.’ That takes

guts.” One of the plaintiff’s attorneys critical

of Justice Walker agreed that he readily

grants summary judgment motions: “It is true

that he is not afraid to take away somebody’s

day in court. Denying a summary judgment

motion and letting the jury decide is not pro-

plaintiff. It is a pro-jury system in my opin-

ion.” Another plaintiff’s attorney said Justice

Walker “thinks he is the smartest man in the

world, and he is not. He is middling at best,

but don’t tell him that.” A third plaintiff’s

attorney, in contrast, spoke highly of Justice

Walker: “He gives people the opportunity to

state their respective positions. He doesn’t

interrupt you. He doesn’t cut you off.”

ONTRIAL

The plaintiff’s attorney who strongly criti-

cized Justice Walker said his negative impres-

sions were formed during a two-week trial. “If

you’re the plaintiff’s lawyer, you have two

opponents: opposing counsel and the guy in

the robe,” said the attorney. He added, “He is

arrogant and condescending and one-sided to

the extreme, and he is uneven in his rulings.”

Another attorney who has represented plain-

tiffs and defendants in cases before Justice

Walker (and appreciated the fact that Justice

Walker is not afraid to summarily dismiss a

case) said, “I have lost situations in front of

him and I have won situations in front of him.

But I like his style because he is a guy who is

willing to make decisions, and some are not

so simple. A lot of judges would simply pass

by a summary judgment motion and would

let you continue to spend your client’s money

forever. But he will get you to the end of the

case.” That attorney added, “He is one of the

newer guys there. I think he makes a very

good effort to do his research. He was in a big

firm before and he did a lot of commercial

stuff. He writes a good decision. He does his

research. He will have cases for you when you

are at the bench that he has researched. So I

think he is knowledgeable and I think he han-

dles himself well.” Another plaintiff’s attorney

complimented his performance in a nuisance-

abatement trial: “The decision he gave us was

defensible. We won partially and the defense

won partially. It’s hard to tell if a judge is

plaintiff or defense-oriented in one action in a

case like that, although I have heard the

claim that he is defense-oriented. But it was

nice that he had clearly read the papers. He

had done his research. He asked questions

that were on point. He seemed bright, so I

have no complaints.” A fourth attorney with

trial experience before Justice Walker said, “I

spent two weeks in a very tedious trial in

front of him. He is an excellent judge. He tries

hard to do the right thing. He will not hesitate

to reserve on something and double check to

make sure he is on the right point. When we

got toward the end of the trial, he made a

point of giving me his home phone number to

keep him advised as to our progress, and we

did resolve the case over the weekend. He was

good. Did he do everything correct? No. But it

was a complicated proceeding and he worked

hard at it.”

SETTLEMENTS

The interviewee who was most critical of

Justice Walker asserted that he is

“mediocre” in settling cases. “He doesn’t

really try,” the attorney explained. “He

makes a half-hearted effort, and if it isn’t

happening right away, he throws his hands

in the air and says, ‘I can’t do anything.’

Sometimes you have to work at it.” Another

interviewee, in contrast, recalled a case in

which Justice Walker made an all-out effort,

in the middle of a trial, to help the parties

try to reach a settlement. “It was a very

tedious trial and the judge realized that we

had experts on the stand and so forth, but

he still wanted to see if he couldn’t involve

himself and help the parties agree to try to

resolve the case. He had us come over to his

chambers, and we took a little break and

went over at 6:30 one night. We took over

two hours and he was working hard with us.

We could not resolve the case, but he did a

lot of things to try to pull the case together.”

A third interviewee said Justice Walker “did

not attempt to settle the case because there

was an indication that there were no settle-

ment offers to be made.” In any event, the

attorney said, “I don’t bring judges into set-

tlement discussions unless I can’t work it

out myself among the lawyers.”

818 Walker New York Judge Reviews