Interim Supreme Court Justice Colleen F. Duffy and Rockland Family Court Judge Linda Christopher, both Democrats, are the final two winners in last week’s election for all four contests for Supreme Court seats in the five-county Ninth Judicial District, according to almost complete unofficial tallies. They join two other Democrats: Justice J. Emmett Murphy, who had been cross-endorsed by the Republicans, and Interim Justice Lawrence H. Ecker, a town village justice who was appointed earlier this year by Governor David A. Paterson (NYLJ, Nov. 4). A final determination of the final two slots was delayed by a lagging count in Westchester County. In addition to Westchester, the Ninth District covers Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties. – Daniel Wise
City Bar Issues Ethics Opinion on Settlement Agreements
The New York City Bar issued an ethics opinion on Friday stating that plaintiffs’ lawyers may not as part of a settlement agree to personally hold a defendant harmless from third-party claims against their clients. Defense lawyers may not ask plaintiff’s lawyers to do so either, according to the opinion. The opinion addresses a potential conflict-of-interest scenario facing personal injury lawyers, said Seth M. Schwartz, chair of the bar group’s professional ethics committee. “We saw that in fact other ethics committees had addressed it, and that it does come up in increasing frequency, especially in the personal injury context,” he said.
