I read with concern the announcement from Hon. Rolando Acosta, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, that the court will be moving from three to two sittings per week starting Jan. 1. This news comes as no surprise given how shorthanded the First Department bench is at the moment. Including Acosta, and accounting for upcoming retirements, there will be 14 First Department judges come spring 2020. If no vacancies are filled by that time, there will be six vacancies awaiting gubernatorial appointment.

First Department vacancies persist even as the court continues to face a caseload of nearly 3,000 cases per year. To avoid calendar and disposition delays, the court has cut back from five-person to four-person panels, thus creating a much higher risk of split decisions. The First Department already sits every week during the term, so there is no room to schedule further sittings. (And I should note here that the problem is not unique to the First Department; the Second Department would benefit greatly from an increased number of judges as well.)

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