In a recent article building on the report of the Chief Judge’s Taskforce on Commercial Litigation, I proposed the creation of specialized commercial appellate panels in the Appellate Division, First Department (NYLJ, Jan. 23). Justice Leonard Austin of the Second Department provided a response (Feb. 15).
In dissenting from my suggestion for the creation of a specialized commercial appellate bench at the First Department, Justice Austin asserted that there is no need for it, and that our standard operating procedures work as well for complex commercial appeals as for all other areas of law. To avoid confusion, I should clarify that my suggestion was aimed specifically at the First Department, since it was premised only on my experience in this court. If Austin’s opinion applies only to his court, I take no issue, since I have no personal knowledge of the nature, quantity, or complexity of the commercial division cases that are handled by the Second Department.
