Cuts imposed on the courts in the new state budget are “unprecedented” and will do “great harm” to the system, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman yesterday told judges and court employees in a Web address. “The most painful cuts, I regret to say, will be in the continued reduction of our already depleted work force. While we have not yet determined the exact number of court system layoffs that will be necessary, it will undoubtedly be a very significant number across the broad range of administrative and court operations.”

Watch Judge Lippman’s address.