STATE OF NEW YORK
UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM
FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
ONONDAGA COUNTY COURTHOUSE
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 13202
(315) 671-1100
FAX: (315) 671-1183

The untimely and tragic death of the Hon. David Klim has created an issue regarding the coverage of his existing caseload and the distribution of cases in Onondaga Family Court for the remainder of the year. In order to meet this need for judicial coverage a change in the judicial assignments in both Supreme and Family Court are necessary. In that regard, I was immensely pleased by the offers of assistance I received at the Supreme Court Judges’ meeting last Tuesday. The following protocols are hereby established to meet the present need for judicial coverage:

1. The Hon. Martha Walsh Hood is hereby assigned to Part 5 of Onondaga County Family Court for the remainder of 2006. Judge Hood will assume Judge Klim’s present caseload and preside over cases assigned to that Part for the remainder of the year. This assignment will be in addition to her assignment to the Matrimonial Part of Onondaga County Supreme Court as Acting Justice of Supreme Court. To that extent, Judge Hood will continue to be assigned cases in the Matrimonial Part and will continue to handle the motions on her assigned cases along with poor person applications and uncontested matrimonials. This will provide a consistent judicial presence in that Part. Judge Hood will, however, not be trying cases in the Matrimonial Part for the remainder of 2006. All trials which Judge Hood would have heard will be transferred to the General Trial Calendar shortly before the date of trial.
The cases transferred to the GTC shall appear on the civil trial calendar each week and will be tried to the extent possible by the calendar judge. A list of the cases scheduled for trial during each calendar term shall be provided to that term’s calendar judge by the Supreme and County Court Clerk’s Office. Pretrials on those cases should be aggressively conducted by the calendar judge, before whom the case is to be tried.

2. Because there are two trials scheduled each day in Judge Hood’s Matrimonial Part, it is possible that the calendar judge could have two trials over which he/she is to preside on a given day. If the calendar judge is unable to settle one of those trials, he or she should assign a case for trial to an available Trial Part Supreme Court Justice. I am hopeful that it will seldom be necessary to assign the case to another trial justice. Indeed, I consider it to be the highest priority of each calendar judge to resolve these cases. In that regard, the calendar judge should consider transferring, if necessary, other calendar assignments, i.e., Mental Hygiene proceedings to other justices if they conflict with the matrimonial trials. Both the pretrials and trials of these cases will be conducted in the Onondaga County Courthouse and the parties will be duly notified of the change of the location of their proceeding.

3. All matrimonial trials scheduled should be commenced on the scheduled date and continued until conclusion. Adjournments should not be granted unless there are compelling circumstances. Notice of the adjournment of any matrimonial trial should be provided to my office. Through this process, the expeditious and efficient resolution of matrimonial trials, as is presently being accomplished by Justice DeJoseph and Justice Hood, will be continued through the end of the year.

4. All correspondence related to new matrimonial cases will continue to be handled by Judge Hood’s court clerk who will continue to produce a weekly trial calendar and the motion calendars.

5. In light of Judge Hood’s location in the Onondaga County Courthouse all trial subpoenas for her cases will be signed by Justice DeJoseph. Additionally, to the extent necessary, Justice DeJoseph will consider and sign where appropriate orders to show cause filed on Judge Hood’s matrimonial cases and schedule them on Judge Hood’s motion return dates. Judge Hood’s law clerk will assist Judge DeJoseph in this regard.

6. Judge Hood will be conducting her matrimonial motion term every other Monday in the Matrimonial Part until the end of the year. To the extent that Judge Hood’s motion term conflicts with her assignment to the emergency part of Family Court, another Family Court Judge shall be assigned to cover emergencies on those Mondays. The clerk of Family court shall provide a proposed plan for that coverage.

7. During the past week, I have observed that in a number of matrimonial cases the notes of issue have not been filed. The requirement that the note of issue be filed is specified in the Matrimonial Part’s Scheduling Order. Because the filing of the note of issue is required before trial, I will be requesting that a letter be sent out by Judge Hood that the filing dates set forth in the scheduling order will be strictly enforced and that if the date for filing the note of issues has passed, then the note of issue should be filed immediately. I would also suggest to Judge Hood that she include in the letter that counsel can be sanctioned if they fail to comply with the order of the court.

In honor of Judge Klim, let us all contribute our efforts during these difficult times to ensure that the needs of the Matrimonial and Family Court litigants in Onondaga County are fully met. I wish to thank you all in advance for your efforts.

JCT/dje
cc: Patricia Noll
Bobette Morin
Nornie Walsh
Robert Jenkins

An Onondaga County Directory for Judges, including phone numbers, can be found here.