Library reopening

Beginning Tuesday, June 1, 2021, the Appellate Division Law Library will open its doors by appointment only.

90-minute appointments will be available Monday through Thursday at the following times:

• 9:30 – 11:00
• 11:30 – 1:00
• 2:30 – 4:00

There is a limit of two appointments per week. Computer use, browsing the New York shelves, and retrieval of other books by request are available in this initial phase. No printers, copiers or scanners will be available. Available services will increase during future phases of the library’s reopening. (Existing “curbside” circulation and virtual reference services will remain available during this phase.)

To schedule an appointment, send an email to ad4ref@nycourts.gov or call 585-530-3251.

The Chief Judge of the Unified Court System has determined that masks must be worn over the nose and mouth inside all NYS courthouses regardless of vaccination status. Temperature checks and social distancing protocols also remain in place. Those who do not comply will not be allowed to enter the courthouse (or the library) and will be asked to leave if in non-compliance after entering. This policy will be strictly enforced.

We look forward to seeing you.

Law Library Statement on Accurate Legal Information

After the violent attempt on January 6 to interfere with election certification, an attempt based at least in part on disinformation, the Appellate Division Law Library would like to remind you that public law libraries have authoritative sources and provide access to accurate legal information and laws for all. Contact us at 585-530-3251 or ad4ref@nycourts.gov. More information on our reference services is available here.

We thank colleagues from Minnesota for the idea for this post and encourage all legal professionals to advocate for law libraries, now more than ever.

Book review: Keep Swinging

New Yorkers during the Pataki and Spitzer years will recall the disproportionate influence of “three men in a room” to determine state policy. Keep Swinging : a memoir of politics and justice invites readers into that room with Joe Bruno, New York Senate Majority Leader from 1994 to 2008. Beginning with his youth in Glens Falls, Senator Bruno describes the experiences that shaped his 32-year career in state government. Several chapters recount specific “horse trading” sessions with Assemblyman Sheldon Silver and the Governor’s office as they negotiated the State’s budget. The final chapters of the book address the senator’s 2008 retirement, and the controversial prosecution he faced for honest services fraud. Joe Bruno, a Korean War veteran, died in October 2020 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The Library is grateful to our colleague Neil Campbell of Mental Hygiene Legal Service not only for the generous donation of this memoir, but for graciously accepting the request to provide the book review!

Library closing

The Appellate Division Law Library will be closed to the public starting Tuesday, March 17th due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Any patron who has material currently checked out will receive extended due dates at no charge because of the closure.

If you need assistance, you can email the reference desk at ad4ref@nycourts.gov and someone will assist you. PDF documents can be sent to you for a minimal fee. We are here to help you and apologize for any inconvenience.

Stay well!

Books & food

Books and food are some of the best things in life, but when enjoyed together ... not so good.

New NYSBA CLEs

Recent acquisitions of NYSBA CLE digital media:

The New Discovery Law: A Criminal Justice Revolution
Handling Law Enforcement Investigations as Corporate Counsel
Auto & Truck Claims, Accidents & Litigation (2019)
Construction Site Accident Claims & Litigation (2019)
Basics of Elder Law and Special Needs Practice (2019)
Intermediate Trusts and Estates Planning (2019)
Succession Planning: Retirement 101 (2019)
Matrimonial Law Basics (2019)
Matrimonial Trial Institute I: A Mock Financial Trial (2019)
Workers Compensation Law Update (2019)
Advanced Real Estate Topics (2019)
Honing Your Deposition Skills: Basics and Beyond (2019)
Gain the Edge: Negotiation Strategies for Lawyers (2019)

Black History Month

Harriet Tubman (William Henry Johnson, 1945)

Researching African American "firsts" in the law, we came upon the story of William Henry Johnson, in at least one scholar's assessment the first black attorney in the United States. And an amazing story it is, as wide of breadth and full of incident as a nineteenth-century novel, from his youth as a jockey on a plantation, acquaintance with presidents, escape from slavery, a shipwreck, and eluding of slave catchers with the assistance of John Jacob Astor, through to the dogged pursuit of learning that culminated in a long legal career and the abiding respect of his community in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Looking for more on this remarkable yet little-known individual, we discovered another remarkable, little-known person by the same name - a "ghost of history," in one writer's phrase, who served as the Albany correspondent for Frederick Douglass's North Star. This William Henry Johnson was instrumental in the passage of legislation in New York State prohibiting discrimination against African Americans in life insurance and in public education. His autobiography is available as a free e-book for those who may wish to read more about him. You can also find online a speech he delivered in Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 1859, whose theme Rochesterians will no doubt recognize as similar to Douglass's "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech of seven years earlier, Independence Day having long been recognized by abolitionists as a powerful rhetorical opportunity.

Imagine our surprise when we then learned that President Lincoln's personal valet was named ...... William Henry Johnson. Johnson accompanied Lincoln to Gettysburg for the delivery of the Gettysburg Address. On their return, Lincoln fell ill with smallpox and Johnson nursed him back to health. Poignantly, Johnson also contracted the disease and succombed shortly thereafter.

At this point the rabbit hole beckoned and we jumped in: we weren't going to stop until we'd found as many African Americans of historical note with that name as we could. There were three more. One was a World War I soldier, more commonly known by his middle name, who fought off a German raiding party of as many as twenty-four men in hand-to-hand combat. Another was a painter who experimented with a diverse range of styles and subjects, from impressionistic still-lifes and landscapes to the work for which he is best known, African American themes in the tradition of American folk art. A substantial collection of his work is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Last is the figure known as Zip the Pinhead, a performer with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey sideshows and at Coney Island. Exhibited as a "missing link" in the overtly racist context of such entertainment and long thought to be microcephalic, Zip may well have had far more agency in his life than previously credited. For one thing, he saved a girl from drowning at Coney Island. For another, he managed to die a wealthy man. His final words to his sister were reputed to be, "Well, we fooled ‘em for a long time."

A shared name is a thin thread to tie any thoughts together and it's certainly not the intention here to sum up with any grand conclusions. It has been gratifying, though, to follow the serendipitous turns this research took. It's reminded us once again of the astounding determination, struggle, and creativity that mark black history in the United States. And it has offered an opportunity to discover and contemplate the life stories of people who deserve to be better known.

February holiday closings

We will be closed
Wednesday, February 12th,
for Lincoln's Birthday
and
Monday, February 17th,
for Presidents' Day.

New NYSBA CLEs & more

Recent acquisitions of NYSBA CLE digital media are now available for check-out.

Accounting for Lawyers (2019)
Avoiding Contract Drafting Landmines (2019)
Commercial Mortgage Foreclosures & Workouts (2019)
A Critical Review of Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 (2019)
Family Court Practical Skills: Support, Custody Offense (2019)
New York Appellate Practice (2019)
Premises Liability (2019)

Also on the shelves, the latest National Business Institute upstate New York seminar manuals. You'll find these and a wide selection of manuals of interest to local practitioners in our New York Treatises area, at call number KFN 5079 N356.

Estate Planning and Administration From A to Z
Gun Law in New York
Handling the Workers' Compensation Case From Start to Finish
Human Resource Law: The Ultimate Guide
Land Use Law: Current Issues in Subdivision and Zoning
Legal Descriptions, Title Insurance and Surveys in Real Estate Transactions
Medicaid Planning
Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury
Resolving Boundary Disputes in New York
The Rules of Evidence: A Practical Toolkit

New on the shelves

The latest shipment of National Business Institute upstate New York seminar manuals is here. You'll find these and a wide selection of manuals of interest to local practitioners in our New York Treatises area, at call number KFN 5079 N356.

Estate Administration From Start to Finish

Personal Injury 101

Social Security Claims from A to Z

Top Tools for Curing Title Defects

MCC paralegal program visits the library

Yesterday the library once again hosted students from Monroe Community College’s paralegal program. For over a decade, the library has annually welcomed MCC paralegal students to get hands-on experience working with legal resources. The three sessions in the library serve as a “lab” for students seeking to embark on a career in the legal field, allowing them to develop the skills needed to succeed in their careers. For most students, the sessions serve as their first exposure to working with law library resources. Students learn to locate and analyze New York and federal statutes, case law and “secondary” sources like legal encyclopedias and treatises. Many former students have said the library sessions were their favorite part of the paralegal program, and several have returned to use the library once they’ve landed a job in the profession. The current instructor of the course is herself a former student!

The library can host these class sessions due our accreditation with the American Bar Association, which has certified our collection is more than sufficient to support a high-quality paralegal program.

From the Monroe County Library System

We pass along this news release from the Monroe County Library System.

Monroe County Library System Joins Macmillan Boycott

(Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019) Rochester, NY — Effective immediately, the Monroe County Library System (MCLS) and all public libraries in Monroe County will no longer purchase eBooks from Macmillan Publishers or any of its imprints. This decision comes in reaction to Macmillan’s new library eBook embargo, which went into effect Nov. 1. Under these new terms, public libraries are only allowed to purchase one copy of a new eBook for the first eight weeks after release.

To provide access to new titles, MCLS purchases multiple copies to help reduce wait times. Under the new model, MCLS would only have a single copy to share among the 744,344 residents of Monroe County.

“In some instances, this embargo will force readers to wait a year or more to borrow an e-book published by Macmillan, whose authors include J.D. Robb, Liane Moriarty, Bill O'Reilly and Louise Penny,” said Patty Uttaro, Director of MCLS and the Rochester Public Library.

MCLS joins concerned patrons, libraries and library systems across the nation in boycotting Macmillan eBooks, urging Macmillan to reverse its decision to embargo new titles.

The American Library Association (ALA) has also denounced Macmillan’s decision, and asks that the public express their concerns to press.inquiries@macmillan.com, or ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office at alawash@alawash.org. More information, along with a petition requesting Macmillan to reverse their decision, are both available at https://ebooksforall.org/.

New on the shelves this week

Just in: a shipment of four new National Business Institute upstate New York seminar manuals. You'll find these and a wide selection of manuals of interest to local practitioners in our New York Treatises area, at call number KFN 5079 N356.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Collection Law

Injury Claims: Anatomy & Physiology Made Simple

IEP and 504 Plan Legal Workshop

Student Safety: Laws and Liabilities

African American Lawyers in Monroe County, 1864-2007

The Library is grateful to the King family for the generous donation of 8 copies of “And Then They Came”: the Contributions of African American Lawyers in Monroe County, NY, 1864-2007 by the late Judge Roy Wheatley King, from Dr. Rashid Muhammad, son of Judge King and Director of Community Partnerships, Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County. Comprising over 100 biographical sketches, the book is a most welcome addition to our collection - invaluable both as reference and as chronicle of the achievements of African Americans in law in our area.

The Honorable Roy Wheatley King was born in Cat Island, Bahamas on July 15, 1936. He served 2 years in the U.S. Army, going on to earn degrees from Drake University, Des Moines, IA and Syracuse University Law School.

Judge King practiced law in Rochester, NY for over 30 years and was the first African American to work in the City of Rochester Law Department. He was appointed City Court judge by former mayor Bill Johnson in 1996, serving 10 years.

Forty years after completing law school, the ever-energetic Judge earned a master’s degree in theological studies from Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, NY. In addition to the pastoral duties he assumed thereafter, he continued active as adjunct faculty at various institutions and a member of many community organizations.

Judge King passed away on January 5, 2018 in Rochester, NY.

Celebrate Fall Foliage

Happy Fall! We hope you took advantage of the fine weather over the weekend to do some leaf peeping!
Here are some ideas for celebrating the beauty of the changing foliage, courtesy of a UB science librarian.

Image of Canandaigua Lake from the I Love NY Fall Foliage Report

Handling a Criminal Case in New York

It's among the most heavily used books in the library and we make sure there's a non-circulating copy that's always on hand if all the others are out. The past couple of years we've had to add a fifth copy. We're talking about Gary Muldoon's Handling a Criminal Case in New York, the new edition of which is now on the shelf. Recent developments covered include

► Juvenile delinquency: discussion of the “Raise the Age” law, affecting charges against those who are 16 to 18 years old.

► DWI: Video of chemical breath test and statements made to police, including initial refusal, not administered within two hours, were inadmissible.

► Changes to statutes affecting a defendant’s appearance in court and bail.

► New discovery statute effective in 2020.

► New speedy trial statute effective in 2020.

► Standard for ineffective assistance on appeal.

► Failing to apply for expert services, on the belief that these were unavailable, may constitute ineffective assistance.

► Admissibility of statements to internal affairs.

► Authority of defendant vs. defense counsel in making decisions: The Supreme Court has held that a defendant has the right to choose the objective of his defense, and may make counsel refrain from admitting guilt.

► Barring Internet and legal pornography: a prohibition of a parolee’s access to Internet and to viewing legal adult pornography has been found improper.

RBBA 25th Anniversary Gala

	GALA In celebration of 25 years of Rochester Black Bar Association Service and Dedication in the Rochester Community With Keynote Address Given by New York Attorney General Letitia James
Date:	Friday, November 1st, 2019
Time:	Cocktail hour starting at 6 p.m. Dinner served at 7 p.m.
Location:	Arbor Loft 17 Pitkin Street Rochester, New York 14607
Tickets:	Available through Eventbrite
More info:	Please contact rbbalaw@gmail.com

New on the shelves this week

Just in: a shipment of four new National Business Institute upstate New York seminar manuals. You'll find these and a wide selection of manuals of interest to local practitioners in our New York Treatises area, at call number KFN 5079 N356.

Employment Law: Advanced Issues and Answers

Obtaining Evidence from Electronic Devices

Protecting Assets While Qualifying for Medicaid

Trusts from A to Z

New NYSBA CLEs

Recent acquisitions of NYSBA CLE digital media:

2017 AIA Document Revisions & Basics of Commercial Leasing in New York (2019)
CPLR Update (2019)
Commercial Real Estate Leases (2019)
HIPAA Basics (2019)
How to Build a Successful Solo Practice Out of a Home Office (2019)
Medical Malpractice Litigation (2019)
U.S. Immigration Law (2019)

On order

Expected in soon: three new titles from ABA

Attorney-Client Privilege in Civil Litigation:
 Protecting & Defending Confidentiality, 7th Ed.

How to Train Your Expert: Making Your Client's Case

Tax, Estate, & Lifetime Planning for Minors, 2nd Ed.