Court’s 2023 Annual Report Highlights Commercial Division Advisory Council

The recently issued New York State Unified Court System 2023 Annual Report highlights the work of the Commercial Division Advisory Council, which, inter alia, proposes procedural rules for the Commercial Division, and quotes Advisory Council member Heather Mulligan, President and CEO of The Business Council of New York State.

Underscoring the importance of the Commercial Division, Heather Mulligan said:

We all know and understand that a well-functioning judicial system is one of the pillars of economic growth and prosperity. Business organizations are much more likely to locate, invest, and do business in jurisdictions where the courts are known for rendering decisions that are well-informed, predictable and just, and where the courts are known for managing commercial litigation in a timely, efficient and cost-effective manner.

As to the Advisory Council, the Annual Report stated:

Through the work of the Commercial Division Advisory Council—a committee of commercial practitioners, corporate in-house counsel and jurists devoted to the Division’s excellence—the Commercial Division has functioned as an incubator, becoming a recognized leader in court system innovation, and demonstrating an unparalleled creativity and flexibility in development of rules and practices.

The Advisory Council organized a virtual lunchtime lecture series during June 2023 for interns working with Commercial Division Justices and summer associates at law firms. The goal of the series was to educate our future lawyers about the Commercial Division and commercial practice, the wide variety of cases that come before the Commercial Division and the value of clerking, interning and litigating in the Commercial Division. In addition to numerous Commercial Division interns, summer associates at 81 major law firms throughout the United States attended the lecture series.

Because of the success of this lecture series in 2023, the Advisory Council has organized a similar lecture series during June 2024 which the Advisory Council is offering to interns, summer associates, lawyers and bar associations worldwide.

The Advisory Council hosted a virtual program for law schools about the Commercial Division on November 16, 2023. The goals of this program were to discuss law clerk and law intern positions in the Commercial Division and to increase awareness of the Commercial Division in the academic community. Law school deans, career services and professional development officers, and judicial clerkship directors of the top 100 law schools in the U.S. News & World Report rankings were invited to attend this program and representatives of 78 of these law schools did so. The program was recorded, and the recording was sent to all the invitees for distribution to law school administrators, faculty, students and alumni.

In 2023, the Commercial Division adopted new procedural rules proposed by the Advisory Council on motions in limine; pre-marking of exhibits; identification of deposition testimony; and scheduling of witnesses.

Contact the Commercial Division Blog Committee at commercialdivisionblog@schlamstone.com if you or a client have questions concerning the Commercial Division.