Chief Judge DiFiore’s court reform plan promises the most sweeping reorganization of the New York court system in half a century. The goal: increased efficiency, achieved by eliminating the “complex maze” of “11 separate trial courts” (although the Justice Courts will stay as they are).

Along with efficiency comes another impulse: modernization. While New York’s court system is pioneering in many ways, some of its innovations have worn less well than others, posing an intimidating barrier to entry while diminishing the user-friendliness of the system. Being the wild west of law practice is not always a good thing.