Much of the way we work at the Appellate Division, First Department, is opaque and confusing to new colleagues at our court and virtually unknown to the outside bar. When I joined the court in January 1998, I found the established customs and procedures confusing and I learned them mostly on a hit or miss basis. Even more confusing was the architectural configuration of the court building and its adjacent annex at 41 Madison Ave. It took me months to figure out my way around.
Over the ensuing years, other judges joining the court have experienced similar confusion. Additionally, I have been struck by the questions that attorneys have asked me since I joined the First Department bench, which demonstrate an almost universal lack of understanding of how we go about our daily work. I have discovered that even seasoned appellate practitioners have only a limited understanding. So, in an effort to make these mysterious ways more transparent, I offer an updated version of an essay I wrote in 2009 on the ways and practices in which we work.
