The presiding justice of the Appellate Division, First Department has named retired Justice Angela Mazzarelli as chair of the midlevel appeals court's pre-argument conference program, which works to reduce the volume and scope of cases calendared for oral arguments.

In that role, Mazzarelli will work with program director Tamar Finkelstein to oversee a corps of special masters who meet with the parties to narrow or settle cases before the First Department.