One publication described meeting the Honorable Joseph W. Bellacosa as “finding yourself in the presence of a complete fulfillment of the American Dream.” Hearing his successful and wonderful life story evokes that exact sentiment.
Joseph W. Bellacosa was born on September 1, 1937 in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where he was raised. He is the son of Italian immigrants. His father, Frank Bellacosa was born in Bitetto, Italy in 1909 and immigrated with his parents in 1910 to the United States, settling in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Frank Bellacosa, one of seven children, was a hard-working union laborer, who worked as an iceman (in the days when private refrigerators were not yet the norm) and an airport baggage handler for TWA at JFK (then Idlewild) airport in New York. Frank Bellacosa, who became a naturalized citizen of the United States, died in 1976. One of Judge Bellacosa’s favorite mementos of his father is a set of bronze ice-tongs and an ice-pick, which were given to him by Governors Mario Cuomo and Hugh Carey shortly after his appointment as Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals so that he would never forget the place and people from whom he came.
Judge Bellacosa’s mother, Antoinette (Tullo) Bellacosa, was born in 1915 on the upper east side of Manhattan. She was the daughter of immigrant parents and was one of eight children. She married Frank Bellacosa in 1935 and worked as a seamstress and homemaker in Brooklyn, where she raised her family. She died in 2004. Judge Bellacosa has one sibling, his sister Jacqueline Bellacosa Dell’Anno. She was born in 1943, has two children and resides in Malverne, New York.
Judge Bellacosa (his name means “beautiful thing” in Italian) has always been extremely proud of his Italian heritage. This pride was demonstrated by his “pilgrimage” in 1989 to Bitteto, the small Apulian town in the suburbs of Bari, where his family originated. It was a journey that aroused unforgettable emotions in him and during which he was warmly welcomed by the mayor and entire population of the town. Judge Bellacosa said that the people of Bitetto treated him “like a returning son” – the fulfillment of the immigrant dream. The town presented him with the Coat-of-Arms of the Comune di Bitetto, which hung proudly on the wall of his chambers at the Court of Appeals until he retired; now it hangs prominently in the living room of his home.
Education
Judge Bellacosa attended Our Lady of Good Counsel parish elementary school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn from 1943 to 1946. Thereafter, he attended St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church parish elementary school (Amityville Dominican nuns), from 1946 to 1951. There, he served as a parish altar boy. Judge Bellacosa developed very close relationships with the priests and nuns at the St. Joseph Patron parish and elementary school, many of whom he viewed as excellent teachers and models of good living. Judge Bellacosa next attended the Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception – Brooklyn Diocesan Seminary High School and two-year college from 1951 to 1957. It was there that he met his lifelong friend (and future brother-in-law) Reverend Andrew G. Nirrengarten. During their high school years, the future Reverend and future Judge played on their high school’s championship handball team together.
Judge Bellacosa completed the six-year program at the Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception and then transferred to St. John’s College. Judge Bellacosa, who had studied to be a priest at the preparatory seminary in Brooklyn, determined that another service profession &45; law – was his calling. He attended St. John’s College from 1957 to January 1959, earning a B.A. in English. He attended the then new Hillcrest Jamaica Queens Campus of the University and graduated from its first class from that location. This marked the beginning of a rich and diverse lifelong relationship between Judge Bellacosa and St. John’s that would span five decades.
During the 1950’s, Judge Bellacosa spent summers and after-school hours working as a day camp counselor at the Catholic Youth Organization, an office clerk and an assistant. He was an avid Brooklyn Dodger fan, frequently attending games at Ebbets Field until the team left for California in 1957. To this day, Judge Bellacosa still speaks fondly of his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers.
From February 1959 to June 1961, Judge Bellacosa attended St. John’s Law School where he earned a LL.B. (J.D.) at the then Brooklyn Campus. While at St. John’s, he served as an editor of the St. John’s Law Review. During his tenure on the Law Review, he assisted in the editing and eventual publication of an article on the Court of Appeals, which was authored by a young former Court of Appeals law clerk, practitioner and St. John’s alumnus, future Governor Mario M. Cuomo. At that point in time in 1960, Joseph Bellacosa and Mario Cuomo could not have foreseen how their career paths would criss-cross and intertwine over the next five decades.
Judge Bellacosa formed lifelong friendships and mentors during this key period of his life. Among the close friends he made at St. John’s Law School were Robert J. McGuire, who was the Editor in Chief of the Law Review and later became the Police Commissioner of the City of New York under Mayor Edward Koch, and Charles “Joe” Hynes, who became an outstanding prosecutor and then the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney, appointed to Special State roles by Governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo, both St. John’s alumni. Judge Bellacosa’s friendships with Bob McGuire and Joe Hynes grew during their St. John’s years as the two men served as best man and usher at Judge Bellacosa’s wedding (during his third year in law school), and later became godfathers to his first two children. Judge Bellacosa’s mentors included Dean Harold F. McNiece and Dean/Father Joseph Tinnelly, C.M. While in law school, Judge Bellacosa worked part time and during summers as a law office clerk and researcher on special projects for the learned and professionally astute Dean McNiece.
Most importantly during Judge Bellacosa’s final year of law school, he married Mary Theresa Nirrengarten, the sister of his good friend Reverend Andrew Nirrengarten. They were married on December 26, 1960 at the St. Pancras Roman Catholic Church in Glendale, Queens, and, in the years to come, had three children: Michael, born on October 6, 1961, married to Eileen Panepinto, residing in Weston, Connecticut; Peter, born on February 20, 1963, married to Joann Crispi, with one child, Juliette Christiana Bellacosa, residing in Manhattan; and Barbara, born on August 4, 1965, married to Charles Simmons, with two daughters, Annabella and Liliana, residing in New Canaan, Connecticut. Judge Bellacosa and his wife Mary made their first home in a rented apartment in Woodhaven, Queens, from which Judge Bellacosa commuted by subway to law school and eventually to his first job in Manhattan on the General Counsel’s law staff at the New York Life Insurance Company. Mary Bellacosa, who was born on August 16, 1938, has always been an extraordinary homemaker for their family, has and continues to do extensive volunteer work and, during the family’s years in Guilderland, a suburb of Albany, served as the parish secretary at St. Madeline Sophie Roman Catholic Church in Guilderland.
After graduating from St. John’s Law School in June, 1961, Judge Bellacosa took and passed the New York State bar examination in October 1961, and was admitted to practice in December 1961 at the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, 45 Monroe Place, Brooklyn – another place to which he would return. Thus began Judge Bellacosa’s illustrious legal career.
The Road to the Court
Judge Bellacosa’s first job as a lawyer was at the New York Life Insurance Company, where he served as a staff attorney in the Office of the General Counsel from 1961 to 1963. Thereafter, he left the private practice domain for the rest of his career and served as a law assistant and ultimately the law secretary to the Honorable Marcus G. Christ (pronounced Krist), Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, from 1963 to 1970. He worked at 45 Monroe Place, Brooklyn and the Supreme Court Building in Mineola, Nassau County. Judge Bellacosa obtained that position due to the urging and recommendation of Dean McNiece, with whom Judge Bellacosa had continued a growing relationship as an active alumnus of St. John’s Law School. Judge Christ became a preeminent mentor to Judge Bellacosa and an important figure in his life. Judge Bellacosa remains enormously grateful to Judge Christ and, to this day, expresses his respect for and gratitude towards Judge Christ at every opportunity.
Judge Bellacosa’s foray into the Second Judicial Department as a law clerk marked the turning point and commencement of a lifelong career in public service and legal education. During his law clerkship years, Judge Bellacosa interrelated frequently with future Governors Carey and Cuomo and with Chief Judges Desmond, Fuld and Breitel, as well as mentor Justices at the Appellate Division, Henry Ughetta and James Hopkins. As Judge Christ’s law clerk, he accompanied and worked with his Judge on two cases in 1966 and 1967, with respect to which Judge Christ was specially designated to sit on the Court of Appeals in Albany – two foreshadowing moments for the future Court of Appeals Judge. Judge Bellacosa’s legal career grew in relationship and responsibilities during his years as a law clerk and, ultimately, he was introduced by Judge Christ to another individual who would play a significant role in his career – Judge Sol Wachtler, a Nassau County trial judge who would eventually be elected a Court of Appeals Judge in 1972 and appointed its Chief Judge in 1985.
Judge Bellacosa completed his service with Presiding Justice Christ in 1970. He accepted a position as Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor of Law at his beloved St. John’s alma mater with its new Dean, John Murphy – thus, rekindling his relationship with St. John’s temporarily, but not for the last time. One of his faculty colleagues was former Dean Harold McNiece. Professor Bellacosa taught Criminal Law, Professional Ethics, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Legal Writing and Advocacy. He chaired the physical move of the Law School from its longtime Brooklyn Campus to the Hillcrest Queens Campus and an entirely new Law School building and complex. In 1973, he turned to full-time teaching and gave up the administrative post as Assistant Dean (of which he was succeeded by Andrew Simons, a former Court of Appeals law clerk to Judge Adrian Burke). During those years, Judge Bellacosa taught three courses to his own first year high school history teacher at Cathedral, Monsignor – later to be Philadelphia Cardinal – Anthony Bevilacqua, a canon lawyer who also became a New York civil lawyer. Judge Bellacosa’s relationship with Cardinal Bevilacqua was another one of the great lifelong mentor-friendship relationships that have concentrically linked Judge Bellacosa’s career with extraordinary people.
During this active professional growth period, Judge Bellacosa was also appointed jointly by Chief Judge Fuld and Presiding Justice Christ as a charter member of the prestigious Advisory Committee to the Judicial Conference on Criminal Law and Procedure. This position, working with an array of the leading experts in the state, led to Professor Bellacosa’s selection as author of the Criminal Procedure Practice Commentaries for McKinney’s Publications, the leading treatise (eight volumes) for judges and practitioners. This practical and scholarly exertion lasted ten fruitful years until Judge Bellacosa was appointed Chief Administrator of the Unified Court System in 1985. This prominent work also led to Professor Bellacosa’s role lecturing judges’ and lawyers’ groups throughout the state and serving as specially retained appellate counsel in major cases, including, for example, People v. Thomas Mackell, an appellate victory that led to the downfall and dismissal of notorious Special Prosecutor Maurice Nadjari. During this period, Professor Bellacosa also accepted several pro bono publico assignments representing indigent criminal defendants and writing briefs and arguing appeals in the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals.
Becoming the Clerk of the Court
Towards the end of 1974, the seemingly perfect package of professional endeavors (teaching, writing, lecturing and advocating), along with the joyous suburban family life of the Bellacosas in Syosset, Nassau County, was presented with a major opportunity and risky challenge. Newly-elected (the last elected Chief Judge) Chief Judge Charles D. Brietel urged Professor Bellacosa to move to Albany to become Chief Clerk (he added Chief Counsel, too) to the Court of Appeals. The then Chief Judge added to the description of the functions a presence and participation, as needed and requested, at the Judges’ Conferences on cases – a first and new responsibility for the Chief Clerk. The junior Associate Judge, Sol Wachtler, was dispatched to persuade Professor Bellacosa to accept this post, as urged by Judges Christ and Hopkins. Professor Bellacosa accepted the position, expecting to leave behind his other happy professional endeavors for perhaps three or four years. The Court specifically approved his continuing as author of the Practice Commentaries as a nexus back to his former life. Everything else ended and changed with this extraordinary leap of faith, however, as he took his entire family and career north from his Brooklyn and now suburban existence and his extended family and friends’ roots.
In a letter, dated December 21, 1974, future Governor Cuomo wrote to Professor Bellacosa, after a long meeting they had at his law school office, about the enormous and risky career moves that both were making at the time – future Governor Cuomo was leaving for Albany to serve as Secretary of State under Governor Carey and future Judge Bellacosa was leaving for Albany to serve as Clerk of the Court of Appeals. In the letter, would-be Governor Cuomo asked “Did it occur to you[, Joe,] that we may both be making a mistake?” Thirteen years later, Judge Bellacosa would proudly hang the framed letter in his chambers at the Court of Appeals as the dramatic answer to the rhetorical question.
The management of a then non-resident seven member Court came at an historic set of turning points. With the Court’s urging and backing, Professor Bellacosa entirely revamped the case management systems and reviews, converting the longtime laissez-faire approach to an intense pro-active hands-on philosophy of supervision and intervention. The Court operated with acquisitive data gathering and screening vigilance of all facets of its work and responsibilities. Mr. Bellacosa made trailblazing advances as Clerk of the Court, including the introduction of total case monitoring systems, electronic and technological reforms and modernizations, and the creation of the first-rate Central Legal Research Staff as an adjunct to the work of the “Chambers-elbow law clerks.” Externally, Professor Bellacosa assisted the Chief Judge’s reform initiatives, which structurally changed the Judicial Branch and its operations including centralized administration, state funding for all operational aspects (facilities and capital expenditures remained a local municipal obligation), merit appointive screening and selection of Court of Appeals Judges (no more statewide elections, fund raising and political electioneering) and the creation of an independent Commission on Judicial Conduct. These major changes were effected through constitutional, elective and rule changes.
Joseph Bellacosa considered this time from 1975 through 1983, when he completed his role as Clerk, to be a challenging, fulfilling and fun time. On October 28, 1983, at the ceremony marking Mr. Bellacosa’s resignation as Clerk of the Court, then-Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke stated as follows:
Make no mistake about it, in the almost nine years he has served as the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, as the chief executive officer of this court, he has made a very deep imprint upon the highest court of the State. It has all been to the good. He has written his own tablet, cast in superlatives, attesting to his mental keenness, his friendly manner, his assiduous application to duty and his strong moral fiber. The Court of Appeals stands out like a beacon among the highest courts of the States, and he has taken a major part in achieving that niche in jurisprudential history. He has played a full role in treating the public courteously, in assembling and supervising a remarkably excellent staff, in assisting the members of the court at every turn, in modernizing the court structure and methods and in keeping a burgeoning calendar current, each indeed being no small achievement. He has made things so easy, it is hard to see him go.
On that day in 1983, then-Chief Judge Cooke did not know – nor did anyone else dream – that Mr. Bellacosa would return to the Court of Appeals four years later to begin writing his second “tablet” at the Court as a Judge of the Court of Appeals.
In November 1983, Mr. Bellacosa resumed his academic career as Professor of Law and Director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School. He held that position until January 1985. He also served, during that period, as Chairman of the New York State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, appointed by Governor Cuomo.
When Governor Cuomo appointed Judge Wachtler as Chief Judge in January 1985, Judge Bellacosa was asked to return to judicial public service as Chief Administrator – soon to be Chief Administrative Judge of the Unified Court System via a Court of Claims Judgeship – in effect a joint appointment from Chief Judge Wachtler and Governor Cuomo. Some of the highlights of Judge Bellacosa’s accomplishments during this fertile period from 1985 to 1987 in partnership with Chief Judge Wachter include: negotiating the enactment of Chapter 300 of the Laws of 1985, which provided a certiorari docket for the civil appeals side of the Court of Appeals docket, helping to reduce the annual number of argued appeals reviewed from over 700 to fewer than 200; creation of the IAS (Individual Assignment System) of trial case management and flow, keeping cases with one Judge from inception to disposition, with specific exceptions, and under a random wheel assignment method; and creation of a state funding mechanism in collaboration with local municipalities to improve state courthouse facilities.
His Years on the Court and Life Thereafter
On January 5, 1987, Governor Cuomo appointed Judge Bellacosa from the Commission on Judicial Nomination list to the Judge Bernard Meyer vacancy on the Court of Appeals. On the day of Judge Bellacosa’s swearing in as a Judge on New York’s highest court, the Judge and his wife Mary re-read the December 21, 1974 letter from Governor Cuomo thirteen years prior, questioning whether both were making a career mistake in moving to Albany. Judge Bellacosa announced the answer to Governor Cuomo’s question – “Neither of us made a mistake!”
Judge Bellacosa served at the Court of Appeals as the only resident Judge until September 1, 2000, a few months shy of the full 14-year term. As is often said, the record of opinions and cases speak for themselves. Judge Bellacosa’s philosophy, often expressed in speeches and extrajudicial articles, is that “Every case is important.” Judge Bellacosa has issued several hundred signed writings occupying significant portions of volumes 69 through 94 of the New York Reports, Second Series. He has no favorites.
During Judge Bellacosa’s court years, in addition to other article publications, lecturing, occasional adjunct teaching stints at his St. John’s Alma Mater, he also accepted a volunteer committee membership from the American Bar Association to serve on the Accreditation Committee of the Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. It supervises and licenses the 180 law schools in the country and their foreign semester programs throughout the world. Judge Bellacosa eventually rose to the top post as Chairman of the Section and traveled extensively around the nation and Europe for this work.
At the June 28, 2000 ceremony marking the retirement of Judge Bellacosa from the Court of Appeals, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye noted that his departure was “a closing chapter on a 25-year lifetime at the Court of Appeals, something of a record.” Chief Judge Kaye eloquently thanked Judge Bellacosa for his service at that ceremony as follows:
So in this circle of life, from beginnings to endings, from St. John’s Law School back to St. John’s Law School, we come to this: we thank Judge Bellacosa for his warmth and electricity that light up the Court of Appeals, for his quarter-century of perfect attendance and perfect performance, for his truly outstanding contribution to the law, to this institution he loves, and to the very special people who are the Court of Appeals. We thank you for sharing your life with us, and for enriching ours. And we convey our best wishes to you, to Mary, to all your family, as you begin a brand new chapter of your life.
In 2000, after Judge Bellacosa stepped down from the Court, the Deanship at Judge Bellacosa’s Alma Mater, St. John’s Law School, beckoned. Father Harrington, C.M., the University President, urged Judge Bellacosa to move from his seat as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees to become the new Dean. Responding to another call to service to once again return to St. John’s and having concluded that, after 25 outstanding and happy years in upstate New York, it was time to return to his downstate roots and family, Judge Bellacosa accepted St. John’s prestigious offer and returned to St. John’s a quarter-century after he left as a Professor to be the Clerk of the Court. He agreed to one four-year term that started in the summer of 2000 and concluded in the summer of 2004. In 2000, Judge Bellacosa and his wife Mary moved to Garden City, New York, where they still reside as of 2005, the time of this writing.
Judge Bellacosa served as an outstanding Dean of St. John’s Law School for four years and helped the school to progress significantly. Despite the urging of the University for him to stay on as Dean, Judge Bellacosa decided to embark on the next phase of his life – one centered around enjoying more active and precious time with his wife of 45 years, his immediate and extended family and a wide circle of wonderful friends. Judge Bellacosa now devotes substantial time to his family (in particular, his three granddaughters), does some consulting work in his spare time, and travels extensively.
Among the honors and honorary degrees received in his long career, those that stand out most prominently, are the Medals of Honor from St. John’s, the New York State Bar, Nassau County Bar Association and Brooklyn Bar Association, and the opportunity to present the Cardozo Lecture at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in 1994 on “Cardozo the Teacher.” Among the many extracurricular and extrajudicial services that Judge Bellacosa was privileged to be involved with, he counts Chairman of the Chief Judge’s Alcohol and Drug Dependency Commission (the Lawyers Assistance Programs) as one of the most effective, personal and humane. It led directly to the creation of the Lawyers Assistance Trust and well serves lawyers in this special needs arena, as well as the public, clients and profession who are all better off because this assistance is more visible and available and acknowledged openly.
Judge Bellacosa’s story and service are far from over. He has proven himself to be a preeminent lawyer, Judge, scholar, teacher, friend and, most importantly to him, son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. It bears emphasizing that he personally counts as his foremost achievements and greatest delights, his family and friends. He is also eternally and enormously grateful for the illustrious line of mentors, colleagues, partners and associated workers who gave him encouragement, inspiration and assistance every step of his fascinating and most fortunate career. He also revels in all the people whose lives and careers he has touched in known and unrevealed ways – and there are many. He hopes the gifts given to him have been passed along with a little more polish and luster to multiply the rewards for all. He is a humble man filled with great faith and gratitude, and constantly expresses his overarching appreciation and pervasive gratitude for God and Mary, whose love, tolerance, understanding and goodness he describes as incalculable and wondrous.
Simply put, as Chief Judge Kaye eloquently and accurately articulated during Judge Bellacosa’s emotional retirement ceremony in the Judge’s conference room at Court of Appeals Hall, “as Clerk of the court, a distinguished law professor and commentator, Chief Administrative Judge and a Judge of this Court, he has made an ineradicable imprint on the law, on the courts and lawyers of New York, on this institution and on each of us personally.” There is no wish more appropriate for Judge Bellacosa than the one he expressed during that poignant retirement ceremony and on countless other occasions throughout his wonderful life, “Per Cent Anni e piu” – Here’s to a hundred years and then some.
Progeny
Judge Bellacosa has three children: Michael, born on October 6, 1961, married to Eileen Panepinto, residing in Weston, Connecticut; Peter, born on February 20, 1963, married to Joann Crispi, with one child, Juliette Christiana Bellacosa, residing in Manhattan; and Barbara, born on August 4, 1965, married to Charles Simmons, with two daughters, Annabella and Liliana, residing in New Canaan, Connecticut.
This biography appears in The Judges of the New York Court of Appeals: A Biographical History, ed. Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt (New York: Fordham University Press, 2007). It has not been updated since publication.
Published Writings Include:
Echos, Encores, and ‘E Pius. E-book (2022). ‘E Puis is accessible online here.
Introductory Remarks [Panel commemorating Brown v. Board of Education], 78 St. John’s L. Rev. 257 (2004).
Introduction [of Senator Michael A.L. Balboni: Terrorism and Its Impact on Insurance], 18 St. John’s J. Legal Comment. 511 (2003 2004).
Special Recognition [of St. John’s University School of Law Honors Alumni Who Have Served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of International Trade], 17 St. John’s J. Legal Comment. 443 (2003).
In Memoriam: Christopher Lawler, 76 St. John’s L. Rev. 253 (2002).
Dedication: A Tribute to the Honorable Thomas M. Whalen III, 66 Alb. L. Rev. 3 (2002-2003).
Opening Remarks [Symposium: Law, Religion and the Public Good], 75 St. John’s L. Rev. 187 (2001).
Ex Corde Ecclesiae: Reflections, Perspectives and Proposals, 40 Cath. Law. 313 (2000-2001).
Judicial Anecdotal Reflections on the Law [Judicial Perspectives on Legal Education at the Threshold of the New Millennium], 15 St. John’s J.L. Comm. 319 (2001).
Opening Remarks at the Third National Conference of the Association of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, 74 St. John’s L. Rev. 573 (2000).
Bishop Thomas Daily, The Tablet, February 12, 1999.
Professor Donald J. Werner, 73 St. John’s L. Rev. i (1999).
Serendipity Road, De Novo (St. John’s University School of Law, Alumni Magazine) (1998).
Celebrate Your Freedom Fireworks for the Profession and the Judiciary, 32 New Eng L. Rev. 1041 (1997 1998).
A Shared Spirit of Justice: the Union of Law and Equity, Justice’s Body and Soul: Canon and Common Law’s “Common Ground,” 37 Cath. Law. 269 (1997).
Judging Cases Versus Courting Public Opinion, 65 Fordham L. Rev. 2381 (1997).
Trends for the Trial Bench and Bar, New York Law Journal, Jan. 27, 1997, p 2, col 3.
Trembling Towards Olympus, 69 (3) New York State Bar Journal 6 (1997).
Boomerangs of Dissonance, New York Law Journal, Perspective, August 12, 1996, p 2, col 3.
A Millennial Renewal of the “Spirit of the Bar” (A Nation Under Lost Lawyers: The Legal Profession at the Close of the Twentieth Century), 100 Dick L. Rev. 505 (1995-1996).
Symbols, Slogans and Cymbals of Criminal Justice: Where’s the Substance?, 36 Cath. Law. 375 (1995).
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, the Teacher, 16 Cardozo L. Rev. 2415 (1995).
Chairperson Expresses Disappointment in Consent Decree, ABA Syllabus, “From The Chair,” Vol. XXVI, No. 3, Summer 1995.
An Allegorical Journey over the Rainbow of Accreditation, ABA Syllabus, “From The Chair,” Vol. XXVI, No. 2, Spring 1995.
Ruminations on Legal Education and the Profession, ABA Syllabus, “From The Chair,” Vol. XXVI, No. 1, Winter 1995.
Benjamin N. Cardozo, the Teacher, The Record, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 1995.
Benjamin N. Cardozo: the Teacher, 3 Memorial Lectures 1594, 1612 (Assoc. of the Bar of the City of New York ed. 1994).
Section Remains Resolute and Effective, ABA Syllabus, “From The Chair,” Vol. XXV, No. 4, Fall 1994.
Ethical Impulses from the Death Penalty: “Old Sparky’s” Jolt to the Legal Profession, 14 Pace L. Rev. 1 (1994).
Endings and Commencements (Excerpts from commencement address at Pace University Law School), NY Law Journal, May 23, 1994, page 2, col 3.
Judge Domenick L. Gabrielli, NY Law Journal, April 6, 1994, page 2, col 3.
The Spirit of St. John’s: Service, St. John’s University Alumni Quarterly, Winter 1993, “Reflections”, p 8.
The Regulation of Hate Speech by Academe vs. The Idea of a University: A Classic Oxymoron?, 67 St. John’s L. Rev. 1 (1993).
The Maccrate Report: Building the Education Continuum, NY Law Journal, October 22, 1993, page 2, col 1.
Where Do We Go from Here? (Invitational Conference jointly sponsored by ABA, University of Minnesota Law School and West Publishing Company), The MacCrate Report: Building the Educational Continuum, Conference Proceedings, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, September 30 – October 2, 1993.
The Transnationalization of the Legal Profession (Presidential Showcase Program of the ABA Annual Meeting, The Internationalization of Law Practice: Issues of Access and Education), ABA Annual Meeting, New York, NY, Occasional Papers 8, August 8, 1993.
Justice – An Ideal and a Reality, NY Law Journal, April 16, 1993, page 2, col. 3.
Sense and Dollars in the Present and the Future: The ABA Law School Accreditation Process (Keynote Luncheon Address at the Conference of University Presidents and Deans on the Law School and the University: The Present and the Future), ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Occasional Papers 6, March 19, 1993.
Foreword. 1992 SURVEY OF NEW YORK LAW, 44 Syracuse L. Rev. 1 (1993).
The Nature of the Judicial Process Revisited: Three Little Words, 64 NYS Bar Journal 14 (1992).
Regulation of Speech on Campus: Suitable to a University or Oxymoron?, NY Law Journal, June 24, 1992, page 2, col. 3.
The Nature of the Judicial Process Revisited: Three Little Words, 78 ABA Journal 114 (1992).
A Remembrance: Chief Judge Breitel, NY Law Journal, December 12, 1991, p 2, col. 3.
The Nature of the Judicial Process Revisited: Three Little Words, NY Law Journal, November 19, 1991, p 2, col. 2.
Obligatory Pro Bono Publico Legal Services: Mandatory or Voluntary? Distinction Without a Difference?, 19 Hofstra L. Rev. 745 (1990-1991).
The Pro Bono Experience in New York, NY Law Journal, January 2, 1991, p 2, col 3.
A Judicial Perspective of the Process, ABA “Syllabus” [Section of Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar], Vol. 21, No. 4, Winter, 1990.
The Fusion of Medicine and Law for ‘In Extremis’ Health and Medical Decisions: Does it Produce Energy and Light or Just Cosmic Debris?, 34 St. Louis U. L.J. 1041 (1990).
The Fusion of Medicine and Law for ‘In Extremis’ Health and Medical Decisions: Does it Produce Energy and Light or Just Cosmic Debris? (Paper delivered Oct. 21, 1989 at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law), The Bulletin of the American Academy of Psych. & the Law, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1990.
‘Beat the Clock’; Reducing Delay in Civil Cases, NY Law Journal, January 30, 1990, p 1.
Less Myth and More Light, 61 NYS Bar Journal 48 (1989) [Written in response to “Demythologizing a Demythologizer”, Harry V. Jaffa & Lewis E. Lehrman, 61 NYS Bar Journal 28].
City for Sale [Book Review], NY Law Journal, February 6, 1989, p 2, col 2.
Demythologizing Lincoln, 60 NYS Bar Journal 14 (1988).
Demystifying the Judicial ProcessCNY-SCAN’s Gavel-to-Gavel Telecasts, NY Law Journal, August 23, 1988, p 1, col 1.
Same Function, Same Reason for Being [100 YearsCCourt of Appeals] (New York and the Law: Special Edition, Part 2), NY Law Journal, May 31, 1988, p S25, col 1.
Judge ChristCAn ‘Exquisite Touch of Class’ (Testimonial to New York Appellate Div. 2d Dept. Judge Marcus G. Christ), NY Law Journal, March 11, 1988, p 2, col 3.
Demythologizing Lincoln, NY Law Journal, February 19, 1988, p 2, col 3.
Why the Fairness Doctrine Deserves to Stay Dead, Broadcasting, ‘Monday Memo,’ February 18, 1988.
If No One Makes Any Noise, Maybe the Fairness Doctrine Will Stay Asleep, Television/Radio Age, ‘Viewpoints,’ December 7, 1987, p 71.
The Tale of Orca’s Child, 59 NYS Bar Journal 18 (1987).
Free Speech Wins over ‘Fair Speech’ on TV, Newsday, October 1, 1987.
Fairness Doctrine: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed, Albany Times-Union, September 6, 1987, p B-1.
The Tale of Orca’s Child Named Judmin (Special Supplement: Law Day 1987), NY Law Journal, May 1, 1987, p 33, col 1.
A New York State Constitution Touch of Class, 59 NYS Bar Journal 14 (1987).
Alternative Dispute Plan Improves Justice System (110th Annual New York State Bar Meeting), NY Law Journal, January 28, 1987, p 25, col 1.
The Synergism of Law and Religion, 30 Cath. Law. 364 (1986).
Alternative Dispute Plan, “Enhancing Mediator Skills” Conference Proceedings, Community Dispute Resolution Program, September 26-27, 1986, Rochester, NY.
Counterstatement to Criticism of Election Law Litigation, NY Law Journal, September 26, 1986, p 1. col 3.
A New York State Constitution Touch of Class, NY Law Journal, August 11, 1986, p 26, col 1.
An Exquisite Principle, Reader’s Forum, Albany Times-Union, July 13, 1986, p C-4.
Judicial Administration Spell it O-C-A, Not O-R-C-A, 58 NYS Bar Journal 6 (1986).
The Individual Assignment System, NYS Trial Lawyers Assoc. ‘Bill of Particulars,’ May-June, 1986, p 3.
OCA-Whence, What & Whither?, NY Law Journal, May 1, 1986, p 25, col 1.
Why OCA Supports Curb on Interlocutory Civil Appeals, NY Law Journal, April 22, 1986, p 1, col 3.
OCA Development Placed in Historical Perspective (NYS Bar Association 109th Annual Meeting), NY Law Journal, January 15, 1986, p 29, col 3.
The Reciprocity of Respect: A Message for the Justice Courts, Joint Message from Chief Judge Wachtler and Chief Administrative Judge Bellacosa, NYS Magistrates’ Association “The Magistrate,” October 1985, p 6.
Court Management Process Changed by Technology, NY Law Journal, May 1, 1985, p 25, col 3.
Editor’s Farewell, NYS Bar Assoc., General Practice Section, “One on One,” Vol. 6, No. 1, p 7, Spring 1985.
Did the New York State Court of Appeals Elect Jimmy Carter President in 1976?, NYS Bar Assoc., General Practice Section, “One on One,” Vol. 5, No. 3, p 1, Winter 1984.
Fifty Years Make Quite a Difference in the Law, NYS Bar Assoc., General Practice Section, “One on One,” Vol. 5, No. 2, p 5 [Editor], Summer 1984.
Praise to Thee, General Practitioner, NYS Bar Assoc., General Practice Section, “One on One,” Vol. 5, No. 1, P 3 [Editor], Spring 1984.
More Messages Salute Law Journal’s 95 Years (Letter), NY Law Journal, January 31, 1984, p 2, col 3.
Hopkins’ Adopted Judge’ of State Court of Appeals, New York Law Journal, August 5, 1983, p 1, col 3.
The Adopted Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals: James D. Hopkins, 3 Pace Law Review 461 (1982-1983).
The Importance of Being an Earnest Clerk, 54 NYS Bar Journal 74 (1982).
Chief Clerk’s Inside Look at Work of Court of Appeals, NY Law Journal, October 29, 1981, p 1.
The Importance of Being an Earnest Clerk Among Other Virtues, Appellate Court Administration Review, Number III, 1980-81, p 10.
A Judge’s Self-respect is What Counts (Transcript), NY Law Journal, December 3, 1980, p 2, col 3.
Endnotes
- Bridge Apulia USA, 1997 at 52.
- Id. at 56.
- Id. at 56.
- 47 A.D.2d 209 (2d Dep’t March 28, 1975), affirmed 40 N.Y.2d 59 (June 10, 1976) (Breitel, C.J.).
- 60 NY2d vii-viii.
- 95 NY2d vii.
- 95 NY2d ix.
- 95 NY2d viii.
- 95 NY2d xi.