The Commission submits this Report to Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye with additional recommendations for improving the administration of divorce litigation and all the attendant matters to the end of reducing undue trauma, cost and delay to the parties and, most importantly, the children. The Commission recommends sweeping changes in several areas including, the selection and education of judges, the appointment and regulation of neutral experts and law guardians, access to justice, and the administration of the legal process, among others. Finally, the Commission urges the OCA to act quickly and deliberately on the recommendations made in this Report, to pursue scholarship and research on the many complex issues identified, and to strive to increase public awareness and education regarding the rights and responsibilities of parties engaged in divorce and custody matters and the impact such has on this litigation’s unintended victims – the children.
With respect to our recommendations, the Commission recognizes that some require legislation, some can be acted upon administratively, and some may be done either way. Although legislation would be the preferable process in some instances, in the absence of such action, the Commission is confident that the goals of many of these recommendations may be achieved by the Judiciary itself.
The members of the Commission and its staff express to Chief Judge Kaye their gratitude for the opportunity to serve. We applaud the leadership she has demonstrated on family matters during her entire tenure. I express my heartfelt gratitude to my colleagues on the Commission, who have so generously contributed their expertise and have served with dedication, consistency and good humor. In the course of many meetings over the past 20-months, we regularly had full attendance by all 32 members and although there were some disagreements, the tenor of the meetings was never disagreeable. Mutual respect, understanding, a willingness to listen pervaded. No chairperson could have hoped for a finer Commission.
We also wish to recognize the impressive work of the Hon. Jacqueline W. Silbermann, Statewide Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters and her staff. Created a little over ten years ago, Judge Silbermann’s office was charged with the herculean task of implementing the sweeping rules changes adopted in 1993 as a result of the recommendations of our predecessor Committee and to further monitor and improve the process of matrimonial litigation Statewide. I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with Judge Silbermann in this effort during this time and have found her knowledge, passion, and fortitude to effect change in an area of litigation renowned for the emotional weight it brings to bear on all those involved, deserving of the highest praise.
A special debt of gratitude is owed to the Hon. Joseph Lauria and his staff and the judiciary and staffs of the First, Third, Eighth and Ninth Judicial Districts, the availability of their facilities, personnel, resources and institutional insight proved invaluable.
Additionally, numerous staff have offered their expertise, insight, support and assistance through out the process of compiling statistical information and research, in managing the extra-ordinary number of submissions received from the public, judiciary and the Bar and in completing the arduous task of convening 32 Commission members for various public hearings and sub-committee and full Commission meetings, including: Raquel Aracena, Sandres Cancer, Cheryl Ferguson, Frances Malave, Marlene Nadel, Esq., and Amy Sheridan. Several very capable law students also contributed to the Commission’s work, Jacqueline Beaudet, Sean McKinley, and Sandra Fusco.
Counsel to the Commission, Wendy E. Deer, Esq., was the talent, energy and glue that molded this Report. She literally nourished, guided, cajoled and demanded the respective contributions of all Commission members. This Report would not have been accomplished without her exceptional assistance.
We especially would like to thank Phillip Ferrara and his staff for their assistance on the development, distribution, compilation and interpretation of the three surveys conducted by the Commission in its efforts to seek clarification of the issues before it. Phillip’s professionalism, insight, availability and command of the data facilitated the Commission’s discussion of many difficult topics and helped forge consensus that we believe will lead to concrete change.
I wish to single out for special recognition those members of the Commission who co-chaired our three subcommittees and in many ways served as my personal conscience and sounding board: Susan Bender, Hon. Tandra Dawson, Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin, Patrick O’Reilly, Hon. Jeffrey Sunshine, and Daniel Weitz. These subcommittees, which met nearly monthly, are responsible for the progress made by the Commission in a relatively short time. I thank the members of these subcommittees, all busy professionals, for their dedication to the task at hand.
I am very grateful to our brothers and sisters in the judiciary of several other jurisdictions, their very competent and accommodating staffs as well as members of the practicing bars. The Commission learned much from the way matrimonial matters are adeptly handled in New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and elsewhere. My personal thanks to the following individuals for the time and energy expended speaking to our Commission and sharing written information and resources, Hon. Thomas J. Zampino, Hon. Julia DiCocco Dewey, Johanna Antonacci, Harry Cassidy, Debra Kulak, John Trombadore and George Manning.
The work of this Commission could not have been accomplished as efficiently and quickly as it has without the assistance and support of the following institutions, the NYS Judicial Institute, the New York City Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Cardozo School of Law, Pace University School of Law, and the Office of Court Administration. Additional thanks is owed to Professor Andrew I. Schepard, Esq., Director, Hofstra Law School Center on Children, Families and the Law for his support and availability to myself and the Commission throughout its work.
The Commission also owes its thanks and appreciation to the many individuals and organizations that took the time to testify before the commission, submit written commentary, and meet with Commissioners. We especially recognize the men and women who have participated in the court processes as litigants and those bar associations who invited members of the Commission to their meetings. The breadth and depth of experiences from the lay public and the practicing bar shed enormous light on the difficult and personal nature of the problems facing this Commission. We deeply appreciate the trust and respect extended to us during this process and hope that the results of the work will prove worthy of their confidence.
In conclusion, I share some personal observations. Notwithstanding my 22-years of judicial experience, on the Family, Supreme and Appellate courts of this state and my familiarity with the complex issues involved in this Report, and the general dissatisfaction on the part of the public, bench and bar with the law and the court system regarding these issues, I was profoundly impressed with the degree of anguish, frustration and suffering expressed by many in the course of the Commission’s public hearings and through hundreds of written submissions. I believe I also speak for the Commission members who shared these experiences and reacted similarly in expressing our sincere concern and hope that the work of this Commission will serve to ameliorate the costs – emotional and financial – that inevitably accompany divorce. Most importantly, that its work shall serve to insulate the children, to the extent possible, from the potentially devastating harmful effects of such disruption on their lives.
Hon. Sondra Miller
Associate Justice, Appellate Division – Second Department
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