Henry M. Greenberg, president of the New York State Bar Association. Photo: David Handschuh/NYLJ

Editor’s note: This article is the first in a series.

In the upcoming year, the New York State Bar Association could finally secure two of its long-standing legislative priorities, said Hank Greenberg, the organization’s current president: consolidating the state’s trial courts system and simplifying current power of attorney papers.

Greenberg, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, expects the state bar to make headway on both initiatives with state lawmakers next year after accomplishing many of the group’s other priorities in recent months.

Chief among them was defeating an increase to the two-year attorney registration fee, which was proposed in January by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as part of his executive state budget. The plan would have upped that charge from $375 every two years to $425.

The additional revenue would have been earmarked to fund legal representation for low-income defendants. Greenberg said the Bar Association unquestionably supports additional funding for that purpose, but that it shouldn’t be collected on the backs of lawyers. 

“That’s a societal obligation and responsibility. That’s a constitutional obligation, the right to counsel,” Greenberg said. “All of society has a stake in it, and an obligation to make sure the Sixth Amendment is a living, breathing right. But targeting those increases on attorneys is inappropriate.”

Greenberg suggested the state pay for a boost in those services by dipping into its general fund, which is a large pot of revenue used to pay for various services and programs. 

He also said lawmakers should raise payment rates for so-called 18-b attorneys, who are private lawyers who represent indigent defendants when public defenders can’t. Those attorneys are paid between $60 and $75 an hour depending on the level of charge the defendant is facing. That hasn’t changed since 2004.

“That will be an issue in the coming legislative session that we will, as powerfully as we can, advocate for,” Greenberg said.

The Bar Association has previously supported an increase in those rates, as has Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. She pushed the Legislature to consider the proposal in her State of the Judiciary Address earlier this year, but lawmakers declined to do so before the session ended in June.

They did, however, act on a host of the state bar’s other priorities this year, thanks in part to a different composition of the Legislature. Democrats took control of the state Senate this year for the first time in nearly a decade. They’ve had a majority in the Assembly for longer.

Several bills that have languished for years, and were supported by the state bar, became law in recent months. Among them were sweeping reforms to the state’s laws on cash bail, criminal discovery and the right to a speedy trial, which the state bar has pushed consistently for years.

“It came about, and we’ve been championing those reforms for a long time,” Greenberg said.

The Legislature also passed a series of reforms to the state’s electoral system, including early voting. That was a top priority for the state bar this year, as well as the New York City Bar Association. Lawmakers approved the changes within the first two weeks of this year’s legislative session in January —an unusually expedient move for the Legislature.

But more is ahead for the New York State Bar Association’s advocacy efforts next year, Greenberg said. He considers the state bar to be an invaluable resource for the state Legislature, which first established the organization more than a century ago. 

The group has long advocated for changes to the state’s power of attorney form, and Greenberg said they came close to achieving that goal this year. They’ve said the form, as it is now, is too complex and can be difficult for clients to interpret and follow correctly. 

A simple error on the form, for example, can result in it being rejected altogether. That can be detrimental in situations where clients haven’t thought to consider designating power of attorney before it’s too late. 

“We’re going to redouble our efforts even before the legislative session by talking to stakeholders and potential strategic allies, and also key legislators,” Greenberg said. “I’m hopeful that in the next coming session, along with other priorities important to us, that gets done. I think it will, we were very close this year.”

A bill to simplify the power of attorney form was sponsored this year by state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Democrats from Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively. It passed the Assembly, but not the Senate.

Greenberg said there wasn’t any notable opposition to the measure in the Senate, it was just that they ran out of time.

“They did so much this session,” Greenberg said. “We were just in the queue and, in the Senate, didn’t get to the front of the line.”

Reforming the state’s antiquated trial court system may be a heavier lift for the New York State Bar Association, given the lack of appetite among state lawmakers, but Greenberg said he was optimistic they could take the first step next year.

A proposal pushed earlier this year by state court officials would have consolidated the state’s current structure of 11 different trial courts, like family court and criminal court, down to just two: a Supreme Court, which would handle most matters involving criminal, civil, family and other areas; and a District Court, which would handle housing and more minor cases. 

“We have the most byzantine, and in some ways, irrational court system in the country,” Greenberg said. “It’s been this way for decades.”

The state bar has supported reorganizing the state’s trial courts for some time now, and DiFiore has also signed onto the idea as head of the state’s judiciary. But lawmakers have yet to act on a proposal to do so, even after former Chief Judge Judith Kaye of the New York Court of Appeals pitched the measure two decades ago.

Such a reform would require an amendment to the state constitution, which can be an arduous task. The sitting Legislature has to approve the amendment, and then the next round of lawmakers elected during the two-year election cycle has to do the same.

Assuming lawmakers approve the amendment, it’s then placed on the ballot for voters to approve. Greenberg said, considering the Legislature’s movement on several other long-sought measures this year, they could see the first step of that process accomplished next year.

“Hopefully we’re getting to a place now, given what we saw during the last legislative session, that there’s a real possibility,” Greenberg said.

Next year’s legislative session is scheduled to begin in January.

READ MORE:

NYC Bar Legislative Priorities Found Success in Albany, but Agenda Items Remain for 2020

Voting Reform Among Top Legislative Priorities for NY Lawyer Groups

DiFiore Renews Call for Lawmakers to Restructure NY Court System