The photograph shows the Justices of the Appellate Division, Third Department, which features future Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, hearing oral argument during the Court’s final session in its old courtroom in the Albany County Courthouse on Eagle Street. The County Courthouse housed the Third Department for 56 Years, from 1916-1972. The final session was held on January 14, 1972, and was marked by a ceremony at which prominent judges spoke, as well as the Mayor of Albany, Erastus Corning, and the President of the Albany County Bar Association, Condon A. Lyons. In an unprecedented move, the Third Department lifted its ban on news media cameras and recording devices. We, therefore, have this photograph (the only one known to exist), which shows, from left to right, the following Justices: Lawrence H. Cooke, Ellis J. Staley, Presiding Justice J. Clarence Herlihy, Michael E. Sweeney, and T. Paul Kane.
On February 1, 1972, the Third Department moved to its present quarters in the Justice Building of the Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany.
