Preface

• Author: Elizabeth Smith/Mark Thompson
• Pages: 15-15

PREFACE

ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL

The Directory provides a listing of the justices or judges, key court personnel,

addresses and phone numbers of all New York State Courts.

Counties are listed alphabetically. Each county listing contains the names, addresses,

and phone numbers of key county officials who pertain to court functions, the listing

for the State Supreme Court located in that county, and all of the county’s courts.

In each court listing are the names, addresses, phone numbers, and, in some

cases, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of court-related officials, a picture of the

Supreme Court located in that county, directions to all of the courts in that county,

and a roster of all of the judges in that county.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the Directory accurately reflects the status and

organization of the courts as of April 2013. The information contained therein was

supplied to us by the clerks in each court. However, addresses and phone

numbers of courts and judges, and election and assignments of judges, are subject to

frequent change and should be used with caution. Current assignments may be obtained

from the court clerk’s office or from the Office of Court Administration. Court clerks are

welcome to bring any errors to our attention throughout the year.

The judge biography entries are set out in alphabetical order with category headings in

bold for easy reference and readability. Biographical data on Justices, Acting Justices,

and some Judicial Hearing Officers of the New York State Supreme Courts, as well as

some Federal Judges sitting in New York is included. The information contained in the

Profiles was provided to us by the judges themselves, the OCA, and other various

sources. The Special Rules were copied verbatim from handouts provided by the court

clerks or signs posted in or near the courtroom. Judges were supplied with their

Biography and have updated it personally. We will make every effort to augment each

Biography yearly with as much information as can be found and verified. We stand

ready to correct in the next edition any errors brought to our attention during the year.

Note: We recognize that not all judges in New York are included in this book.

Following the biographical profile of many New York State Supreme Court Justices is

an Attorneys’ Comments section, which gives a candid review by five to ten attorneys

who have appeared before that judge. The reviews address the judge’s temperament

and demeanor, skill on the bench, style of conducting trials, skill and effort with settle-

ment negotiations, policy on continuances and adjournments, and proclivities. There

are also suggestions about specific aspects of that judge’s courtroom style and policies

to bear in mind. Quotes strung together are all from different attorneys. Attorneys

interviewed are randomly chosen and have no affiliation with our publication.

New York Judge Reviews F-3