First Department Going 'Virtual' to Reopen Operations, Attorney Admissions

The Appellate Division, First Department has announced that it is “transitioning to a virtual court until further notice,” and that it will soon resume many operations, including holding May and June special terms that will include oral arguments via Skype, and electronic calendaring of appeals and motions.

The busy intermediate state appellate court, which hears criminal, civil and Family Court appeals from both Manhattan and the Bronx, has not been calendaring appeals and motions or holding its normal slate of oral arguments since March, when it was forced to suspend most of its operations as the shutdown effects of the novel coronavirus took hold across New York.

In an announcement highlighted in bold red and linked atop the First Department’s website, the court said that “in light of the continuing public health emergency in New York State and the obligations of the courts to respect the Governor’s New York State on PAUSE Executive Order, the Appellate Division, First Department, is transitioning to a virtual court until further notice.”

“With our transition to a virtual court model nearly complete,” said the court in the announcement, it was “expanding” operations and will soon resume (1) calendaring appeals and motions, (2) scheduling pre-argument court conferences, (3) admitting attorneys to the state bar, and (4) processing attorney grievance complaints in the First Department.

The court further announced that it would commence both a May Special Term, running from May 4 to May 29, and a June Special Term, lasting from June 1 to June 26, and that it was currently in the process of preparing calendars for the May Special Term.

The court did not make clear how soon calendared appeals, motions and conferences will be completed and accessible for lawyers with cases. As of early Thursday morning, it did not appear calendars for May were available. But the court noted in its announcement that all calendars will be published on the First Department’s calendars webpage, and it linked the page.

According to the announcement, matters before the First Department will be calendared for each Wednesday and Thursday during the May special term, beginning with Wednesday, May 6.

In all caps, the court stated, “All calendared matters shall be heard on submission or orally argued via Skype.”

There will be no adjournments, the court added, and it said that remote oral arguments will be livestreamed on the First Department’s website.

The court also said that “inasmuch as the filing deadlines for the responding and reply briefs for the original June 2020 term have been extended by the Governor’s [COVID-19-related] extension order, the responding briefs are now due no later than May 8, 2020, and the reply briefs no later than May 18, 2020.”

Further, by the court’s order, the announcement said, “the perfection, filing, and other deadlines for the remaining terms of the Court continue to be suspended indefinitely and until further directive of the Court,” but litigants can “consensually perfect appeals and file motions” per their agreements.

As had been put in place previously, the First Department kept under suspension, until further notice, “the requirement that hard copy records, appendices, and briefs be filed.”

“Hard copy filings will not be permitted for the safety of our employees and the public,” the announcement said. But “all filings (appeals, motions and applications) relating to matters subject to mandatory E-filing must still be filed via NYSCEF” under the normal procedures and rules.

Regarding attorney admissions, the announcement noted that the First Department’s Committee on Character and Fitness is “actively processing” attorney admission applications and “candidates … will be interviewed remotely and the admission ceremonies will be held remotely via Skype.”

“The Court will also resume the issuance of certificates of good standing,” the court also said, while linking to the Character & Fitness webpage.

And attorney grievance complaints will be taken electronically and processed remotely, the court added, while linking to the Attorney Grievance Committee webpage.