New surroundings often necessitate new discoveries; that was the challenge I faced when I joined the Appellate Division, First Department in January 1998. Some years later, I wrote a piece for the New York Law Journal detailing the many nuances of Appellate Division, First Department practice and procedures that a new designee to that court, like myself, had to face. [Saxe, “How to Operate at the Appellate Division, First Department; An Insider’s View,” New York Law Journal, Oct. 26, 2012.

But it was my first judgeship, an election to the Civil Court of the City of New York over 40 years ago, that introduced me abruptly to the many problems that a new judge had to overcome.