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John Jay: Practicing Trial Lawyer for Seven Years

April 8, 2020April 21, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsJudicial Notice, Judicial Notice 15 Preview, Blog

This blog article was written by Paul D. Rheingold, and it’s a preview of his Judicial Notice Issue 15 article on John Jay. Mr. Rheingold is Of Counsel to Rheingold, Giuffra, Ruffo and Plotkin, LLP, New York City, a firm he founded. His practice has been confined to representing plaintiffs in personal injury suits. He graduated from Harvard Law School cum laude in 1958. He is the author of Litigating Mass Tort Cases, a Thomson Reuters publication. He has long served on the Board of Overseers of the Institute for Civil Justice at the RAND Institute. With his wife Joyce, Mr. Rheingold wrote an article, “The Courthouses of Westchester County,” Quarterly of the Westchester County Society, Vol. 61, No. 4, p. 92 (1985).

Judicial Notice Issue 15 is on the way, but we ran into a slight delay and are unable to send the newest edition to your homes. Who are the four men profiled in this new issue? Find out each week as our authors preview their impressive articles.

I was delighted when the Historical Society of the New York Courts accepted my article on John Jay’s early career as a trial lawyer, but a bit saddened to learn that, due to unavoidable logistics, delivery of the magazine would be delayed. So I would like to tell you a little about what the article is about and what attracted me to the topic.

Given all his fame for his activities after the Revolutionary War, I found that little attention had been paid to Jay’s work as an everyday trial lawyer before the war. This was of special interest to me since my career has also been a trial lawyer. Given that experience, I also felt that I would be better able to understand his work.

Jay’s trial practice covers seven years, from 1767 to 1775. Before that he had five years of apprenticeship with a noted New York City lawyer. He was admitted to practice before all of His Majesty’s courts in New York in 1767—only one of two that year (it was a small bar). He was 23 years old. He commenced practice with the other young man who was admitted.

Common Threads of Justice: Celebrate Diversity Month

April 3, 2020June 4, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Common Threads of Justice

Celebrate Diversity Month — Honoring Judge Jane Bolin

April is Celebrate Diversity Month, and we plan to focus much of our outreach around this theme. Our lens will showcase diversity in the New York courts.

We’re kicking this month off with Hon. Jane Bolin and featuring a blog article written by Board member David L. Goodwin and the Young Lawyers Committee program Commemorating Hon. Jane Bolin. The program was spearheaded by David and produced in partnership with Yale Law School’s Yale Black Law Students Association and Yale Law Women. We thank Trustee Hon. Dianne T. Renwick for participating on that panel.

Judge Bolin was the first Black woman judge in the United States when New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed her to the Domestic Relations Court in 1939. She was also the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, join the New York City Bar, and work in the Corporation Counsel office, among other firsts. She continued to serve the court admirably until her retirement 40 years later, and serves as an inspiration for many who followed in her footsteps. Learn more about Judge Bolin from the program and the blog!

Message from the Executive Director

March 31, 2020April 13, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog

To Our Society Family,

We all have had to rethink our day-to-day lives, both personally and professionally. As we adjust to social distancing, we find that there are important lessons to be learned about how we communicate as an organization…and also as a people. The Historical Society of the New York Courts is now confronting this issue in its own mission.

We’re unable to gather at our programs and events as we’d like in this new normal. How to continue our dialogue with you? We have a few ideas which we are implementing and we need your participation to make it work:

Share your thoughts with us on social media about our newest series Common Threads of Justice with the hashtag #CommonThreadsofJustice. Comment on our film offerings and tell us what themes you’d like us to explore in our rich film archive.
Tell us what topics you’d like to tune in on for podcasts at our #SocietyPodcast. There are so many options, and we want to present what you’d like to hear about from our unique lens of legal history. Perhaps a look back at the flu pandemic of 1918?
Watch films from our Oral History archives focusing on themes like mentorship, early life experiences, and professional years from legal luminaries of the Bench & Bar. We all could use some encouragement about overcoming adversity — let us know what inspired you! #OralHistories
Interact with our digital articles from the latest issue of Judicial Notice focusing on influential legal figures in NY legal history. We plan to send out an article digitally from time to time. We’ll ask you to guess who the figure is with some preliminary hints before the article is sent out. Then follow that with prompts for a conversation about the article with the author or with us.

Judicial Notice to Your Device If Not Your Doorstep!

March 30, 2020April 21, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Judicial Notice 15 Preview, Judicial Notice, New York Legal History

Like so many organizations, we are looking for creative ways to continue to bring you our programming. Delivery of our latest issue of our periodical Judicial Notice is delayed in reaching your doorstep by mail. To fill the gap, we are presenting to you today a preview article from the latest Judicial Notice — Elihu Root: Nobel Peace Prize Recipient and Manhattan Real Estate Pioneer.

Society friend Robert Pigott continues in theme of Gilded Age New York lawyers who also served the nation in high government office — a theme he began with his Judicial Notice article on William Evarts. This time, he writes about renowned statesman-lawyer Elihu Root. In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek tone focusing on the location of Root’s residences and law firms, Pigott paints a picture of Root’s New York career and public activities during the Gilded Age.

The discussion of Root’s pioneering mansion on Park Avenue and bold (for his station in society) abandonment of that mansion for new-fangled apartment living might seem intended for the Manhattan realtor. But Pigott uses these superficial aspects of Root’s life to illustrate the public career of a great New Yorker in the largely defunct tradition of lawyers shuttling back and forth from Wall Street to Washington in service of their country.

Common Threads of Justice: The Law Meets Literature

March 27, 2020April 6, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, New York Legal History, Common Threads of Justice1 Comment

The Law Meets Literature

We’re continuing our new series Common Threads of Justice as a way to stay connected digitally when it is much safer to stay apart physically. We’re taking a deep dive into our archive of past program videos, oral histories, films and more to showcase the common threads that weave the tapestry of NYS legal history.

The focus this time is on The Law Meets Literature. It seems like such a natural fit for the reality of the courts to feed the creativity of writers, and for the creative world of writers to lead to cases in the courts. These past programs certainly illustrate that.

Litigation & Literature in the NY Courts: Shaw, Shakespeare, and Sherlock (2016)

Common Threads of Justice: Weaving Threads in Our Video Archives

March 20, 2020April 6, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsCommon Threads of Justice, Blog, Court of Appeals Judges, Judith S. Kaye, New York Legal History, Women & the Law, Women History Month1 Comment

We miss seeing you in person, but we can stay connected!

As we all adjust to social distancing which prevents us from bringing you our live programming, and as we look for ways to nourish our brains and spirits, we are inaugurating today a new series: Common Threads of Justice.

In this new series, we’ll showcase the common threads that weave the tapestry of NYS legal history, presented through our program videos.

Another Look at Judith S. Kaye

For our first foray, we’re looking to our incomparable founder Judith S. Kaye in a celebration of Women’s History Month. Judge Kaye is certainly a trailblazing woman who needs little introduction, so click to revisit past events you may have missed or wish to watch again!

Honoring Lady Justice: New York State Court of Appeals Women Jurists (2013)

Rebecca Salome Foster “The Tombs Angel” (1848-1902)

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, New York Legal History, Public Events

This blog article was adapted from the display surrounding the monument to Rebecca Salome Foster in the rotunda at the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street. It was rededicated in a ceremony on June 25, 2019. Read more about the restoration process in the New York Times article “New York’s Tribute to the ‘Tombs Angel’: Lost, Found, Now Restored.”

In the 1880’s, Rebecca Salome Foster, spurred by her religious faith, began to devote herself to the overlooked needs of inmates incarcerated in the original Tombs Prison (1838) in New York City, especially young and vulnerable women. Mrs. Foster acted as a one-person social services agency, probation officer, and legal aid society (at a time when those entities were either non-existent or in their infancy), providing aid to the inmates of the Tombs and their families irrespective of race or religion. She befriended the accused and counseled them, extended financial assistance to them and their families, in many cases spoke to the court on their behalf, and, in the more serious cases, obtained legal representation for them free of charge. She earned the trust of the judges of the Court of Special Sessions as a person of great integrity, sympathy, and good judgment, and, in response to their requests, investigated the background of persons charged with crimes. She sought to help ease the path of inmates back into society. Often the court, on her recommendation, suspended sentences and placed the defendants in the care of Mrs. Foster, who provided them with food, clothing, shoes, travel expenses, and a place to live, and frequently obtained employment for them. She performed this work every day, without compensation, beginning the day at Calvary Church, where she was a parishioner, and where each day groups of people came to seek her help.

The Braschi Breakthrough: 30 Years Later, Looking Back on the Relationship Recognition Landmark

September 12, 2019September 12, 2019Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, New York Legal History, Notable Cases, Public Events, The Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts, NYS Court of Appeals

On June 3, 2019, The Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts commemorated the 30th anniversary of the New York Court of Appeals’ decision in Braschi v. Stahl Associates Company with a program entitled The Braschi Breakthrough: 30 Years Later, Looking Back on the Relationship Recognition Landmark. The Historical Society of the New York Courts was among the event’s co-sponsors. The video of the program is available to watch below.

In Braschi, interpreting a New York City rent control regulation that protected a surviving member of a deceased tenant’s family from eviction, the Court of Appeals became the first American appellate court to conclude that same-sex relationships are entitled to legal recognition. The case was litigated at the height of the AIDS crisis and sadly, the plaintiff himself died only a year after his groundbreaking court victory.

Inside the Ceremonial Courtroom at the 60 Centre Street courthouse in Manhattan (where the Braschi case started), introductory remarks were made by Matthew J. Skinner, Executive Director of the Failla Commission; Hon. George Silver, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City; and Hon. Anthony Cannataro, the incoming Co-Chair of the Failla Commission. The speakers included William Rubenstein, Bruce Bromley Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the man who argued the case before the Court of Appeals as a young ACLU staff attorney, Henry M. Greenberg, President of the New York State Bar Association, Vice-Chair at the Historical Society of the New York Courts, and a law clerk to Hon. Judith S. Kaye in 1989; Hon. Matthew Titone, Surrogate Judge of Richmond County and the son of Hon. Vito J. Titone (the author of the Braschi plurality opinion); former State Senator Thomas K. Duane; and Giannina Braschi, acclaimed writer and the sister of the late plaintiff Miguel Braschi.

Excerpt from People v. Croswell: Alexander Hamilton and the Transformation of the Common Law of Libel

May 1, 2019August 1, 2019Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Judicial Notice, New York Legal History, New York State Judges, Notable Cases, Law Day, Uncategorized

The theme for Law Day 2019 is Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society, and early New York cases tested some of the protections of the First Amendment. One such case is People v. Croswell (1804), and in 2011, we published an article written by Paul McGrath in our journal Judicial Notice on Alexander Hamilton’s role in the trial. In the spirit of Law Day, we have excerpted a part below.

Paul McGrath retired after serving as Chief Court Attorney of the New York Court of Appeals in Albany where he supervised the Court’s Central Legal Research Staff. Prior to his promotion to Chief Court Attorney, Mr. McGrath worked as the Deputy Chief Court Attorney of the Court of Appeals and as a Law Clerk to Associate Judge Richard D. Simons. Mr. McGrath earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Photo: Harry Croswell (1778-1858) by Henry Inman, 1839. Courtesy of Mead Art Museum, Amherst College. Bequest of Herbert L. Pratt (Class of 1895), AC 1945.12

The Motion for a New Trial

Before judgment could be pronounced, Croswell’s attorneys quickly moved for a new trial, arguing initially (1) that the truth should be permitted in evidence as a justification and thus that Chief Justice [Morgan] Lewis had erred in denying the motion for a further adjournment, and (2) that the court had misdirected the jury. Following accepted practice of the time, the motion for a new trial would be heard by the entire five-justice Supreme Court — somewhat like an appeal of the judgment in modern practice. The defense attorneys would employ a legal device called the “case stated.” By “making a case,” essentially a set of facts to which the prosecution and defense stipulated, all objectionable matters, including any not in the record proper such as the jury charge which at the time was a matter outside the record, could be considered by the full Court.²⁵ Following certain adjournments, the case was finally heard in February 1804 with the Supreme Court sitting in Albany. In accord with the practice of the day, the parties would not exchange briefs before the argument.²⁶

The defense team used the time to regroup. The Federalists sought out Alexander Hamilton who, according to Justice (later Chancellor) James Kent, was “universally conceded” to be the preeminent lawyer of the era.²⁷ As early as June 23, 1803, they had persuaded General Philip Schuyler, Hamilton’s father-in-law, to write the former Secretary of the Treasury for help. The rabid Federalist Schuyler described the case as “a libel against that Jefferson, who disgraces not only the place he fills but produces Immorality by his pernicious example.”²⁸ Although there is some evidence that Hamilton played an advisory role in the Croswell trial in the Circuit Court, other matters had precluded his appearing there. Now he was ready to enter the proceedings in person, gratis.

Franklin H. Williams Documentary: A Film Celebrating His Life and Contributions

March 27, 2019August 1, 2019Historical Society of the New York CourtsUncategorized, Blog, New York Legal History, Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission

This article was written by John Caher, the Unified Court System’s senior advisor for strategic and technical communications.

Photo: Franklin H. Williams

Franklin Hall Williams: Civil rights leader, lawyer, diplomat, organizer of the Peace Corps and first African-American director, United Nations representative, foundation president, associate of Thurgood Marshall, New York attorney. He was a visionary and trailblazer who devoted his life to the pursuit of civil rights — not through acrimony or violence, but through reason and example. His enduring legacy, the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, continues to promote racial and ethnic fairness in the courts.

Joyce Y. Hartsfield, Executive Director of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, and I thought it was unfortunate that Williams, who died in 1990, was but a footnote to history, although his impact on civil rights and the New York Courts was profound and lasting. A recent Pulitzer Prize winning book Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King documented Williams’ role in the infamous Groveland Boys case, but it seemed no one had really taken a good look at his life’s work and contributions. We decided to produce a short documentary, and with the financial support of the New York State Unified Court System, the New York State Bar Foundation and the Historical Society of the New York Courts, the fruits of our efforts are now publicly available.

The film is narrated by Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). Former New York State Bar Association President Kenneth G. Standard is the voice of Ambassador Williams. And we were blessed to have a generous and tireless (and unpaid) consultant, Dr. Enid Gort, an anthropologist working on a book about Franklin Williams.