Introduction to the Honorable Hugh R. Jones Memorial Lecture.

AuthorLippman, Jonathan
PositionLECTURE

Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom

Albany Law School

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

5:30 p.m.

I'm delighted to be here once again at Albany Law School and to be a part of the Hugh R. Jones Memorial Lecture. Let me start by thanking the Fund for Modern Courts, and its Chair, Milton Williams, Jr., for continuing what has become a much anticipated lecture series for all of us in the legal community, the Judiciary and, most especially, the Court of Appeals. We so appreciate the scholarly attention that you and Albany Law School devote each year to the work and history of our Court.

What a privilege it is for me to introduce former Chief Judge Sol Wachtler today--someone I have so greatly admired as far back as when I was a young court attorney and aspiring court manager working in the court system in the 1970s and 1980s. What a giant within the Judiciary, the legal profession, and the entire State-someone who had a meteoric rise to become the youngest judge ever to sit on the Court of Appeals.

Sol Wachtler obtained his law degree from Washington and Lee University and, after military service during the Korean War, he made his way to Mineola, New York, where he opened a law office and got involved in local politics. In 1965, he was elected Supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead, and from the beginning he showed the kind of bold leadership and strong commitment to equal justice that was to characterize his entire

career in public life, including building the first town sponsored low-income housing in the state.

In 1968, he was elected to the Supreme Court, where he quickly earned a reputation as an outstanding trial judge. Having caught the eye of many statewide political figures, including Governor Nelson Rockefeller, he was encouraged to run for a seat on the Court of Appeals in 1972, when it was still an elected court. He was an underdog on the Republican and Liberal lines, but he ran a dynamic campaign and ended up being elected to the Court alongside two other new judges--Hugh R. Jones and Dominick Gabrielli. What an amazing infusion of talent for an already very strong Court boasting Chief Judge Stanley Fuld and future Chief Judge Charles Breitel.

Sol Wachtler served on the Court of Appeals during a period of great change, when our laws and our courts were constantly challenged to keep pace with unprecedented technological and societal developments. He proved again and again that he had the intellect, scholarship, sound judgment, and collegial...

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