Monroe County Bar Association celebrates new leaders

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Jun 22, 2009 by Elizabeth Stull

The face of the law is changing, while professional principles and goals remain strong, speakers said June 18 at the Monroe County Bar Association's installation dinner at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

The event celebrated the swearing-in of new MCBA President Harold Kurland, a partner at Ward, Norris Heller & Reidy LLP, and Monroe County Bar Foundation president Jill Myers, a solo practitioner, by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Richard Wesley.

New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman was the keynote speaker and outgoing bar association president T. Andrew Brown recognized several practitioners for their professionalism and dedication to the legal community.

"It was a huge honor and a great privilege" to lead the organization, said Brown, the association's first African-American president -- and its first president to "text."

"I don't think my year would have been any different if the color of my skin were different," he said. "But nevertheless, I am proud to bear the label of the first African-American president of the Monroe County Bar Association."

Lawyers and judges filled the convention center's grand ballroom, where a PowerPoint slideshow displayed larger-than-life photos of the speakers and honorees.

First to take the stage were the "Class of '59," 20 attorneys (19 white men and one woman) who practiced law in Rochester for half a century. The group included two judges: Judge Richard Rosenbloom and Judge Andrew Siracuse.

"Our greatest hope is that you get as much enjoyment and satisfaction from the practice of law as we do," Judge Rosenbloom said.

Award recipients

After honoring the bar's senior attorneys, Brown presented a President's Award to the Young Lawyers Section and to Paul D. MacAulay, chairman of the committee that recommended the new Monroe County Conflict Defender Kristin F. Splain.

As chairwoman Michelle Fagan and the other women who lead the Young Lawyers Section took the stage, one thing became clear.

"The face of the bar association has changed," Brown observed, to a loud round of applause.

Cynthia Snodgrass and Justin Vigdor received President's Awards for Professionalism. Snodgrass is developing a "Lawyer Continuity Registry" to facilitate the transfer of legal files after a lawyer's death or illness. Vigdor was a major force behind the Campaign for Justice to support the co-location of public service agencies in the Michael A. Telesca Center for Justice.

Mark Hosken presented the Charles F. Crimi Memorial Award to Joseph Damelio for his work representing unpopular defendants, even after other attorneys have abandoned the case.

For the first time, the Raymond J. Pauley Award was given to two honorees: Brian Shiffrin and Mark Hosken.

"They embrace the law, they embrace the opportunity to help others learn about the law," award presenter Mark Bennett said.

Silver and gold: New leaders, old values

"It's great to be the chief judge," Judge Lippman said in his keynote speech. The longest-serving chief administrative judge in state history, he became presiding justice of the Appellate Division, First Department before taking the helm as chief judge in January.

Citing some of the innovative changes effected by former Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge Lippman said she left "big shoes" to fill.

He announced the court's support for a voluntary study of jury diversity, to be conducted in partnership with the MCBA under the leadership of Appellate Division, Fourth Department Presiding Justice Henry Scudder.

The court also has initiatives that aim to reduce wrongful convictions, improve access to justice and upgrade town and village courts.

But Chief Judge Lippman said he will focus on maintaining the courts, rather than designing new programs.

"This is a different time," he said, "probably the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. I try to focus on putting our resources into the courtroom."

The state courts will not have any layoffs this year and, according to Judge Lippman, the hope is that the legislature will approve a long overdue raise for judges.

In his inaugural speech, Kurland, emphasized the bar's role in supporting the judiciary and decried the state's failure to act on judicial pay. He also questioned the judicial election system, asking whether voters have a genuine basis for deciding.

But underlying the many changes in legal practice and the bar, Kurland described a continuity of purpose.

"The main things that count -- the values, the standards, the integrity that's required to do the job right -- it's the same," Kurland said.

In the past year, the MCBA won the American Bar Association's Tweed Award for bringing Rochester's legal service providers under one roof at the Michael A. Telesca Center for Justice. The MCBA also sponsored more CLE programs than any bar group in the state except the New York State Bar Association, Brown said.

As the Campaign for Justice winds down, the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar will reemphasize its annual campaign, Myers said. The Foundation supports the Rochester Teen Court, a student mock trial competition and annual judiciary evaluations, as well as the association's minority clerkship program and some reimbursement for the cost of deaf interpreters.