The evergreen issue of court backlog in New York state’s judiciary is becoming less problematic as Chief Judge Janet DiFiore’s Excellence Initiative enters its fourth year, during which the Office of Court Administration plans to build on the progress already achieved since 2016.

Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said in an interview Monday that the program has had a positive impact statewide, where the decrease in backlog has ranged anywhere from 20 percent in some cases to more than 80 percent in others.