NYCLA Statement on Court Budget Proposals

New York County Lawyers’ Association Official Statement

NYCLA RECOMMENDS COURT BUDGET PROPOSALS

December 4, 2014

On December 1, 2014 the New York Unified Court System proposed a budget designed to help the courts get back on their feet after a series of flat or reduced budgets that began in 2009. Courts had been required to reduce hours of operation and lay off staff, even as record numbers of lawsuits continued to be filed. On January, 7, 2014 the 9,000 member New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) issued a report, “Courts in Crisis,” which warned that courts in the New York region were “dangerously close to the point where they cannot meet their constitutional and statutory duties.” Consistent with NYCLA’s report, NYCLA President Lewis Tesser, of Tesser, Ryan, & Rochman, LLP., issued a Statement today declaring that, “NYCLA believes that the proposed budget is necessary to help the courts fulfill their critical operations by maintaining adequate staffing and by permitting the courts to maintain reasonable hours of operation. NYCLA encourages the Executive and Legislative branches of the New York State government to support the proposed judiciary budget so as to insure that all New Yorkers have adequate access to justice.”