Legal Manual for Doomsday Scenario
While unlikely to wind up on the New York Times Best Seller List, the New York State Public Health Legal Manual – A Guide for Judges, Attorneys and Public Health Professionals will prove to be invaluable for those of us working for state and local health departments. Published in February 2011 in a collaboration between the the State Court system and the NYS Bar Association, it’s a guide for judges, lawyers and health professionals in large-scale emergencies like terrorist attacks, epidemics and mass contaminations.
The NY Times, in its February 14, 2011, on-line edition covered the subject matter in two separate articles: A Legal Manual for an Apocalyptic New York and Excerpts From New York’s Doomsday Legal Manual. The guide provides a discussion of existing law and gives lawyers and judges guidance in analyzing a number of critical health situations. While the subject matter may not be very comforting to the general public, it’s nice to know that a team of lawyers and judges has thoughtfully provided guidance to our policy makers.
NYS Public Health Legal Manual – A Guide for Judges, Attorneys and Public Health Professionals
NAALJ Section to Focus on IDEA Reauthorization
The Special Education Section of NAALJ is getting to work on gathering “viewpoints and recommendations of those who conduct due process hearings and to submit them to the Congress for consideration”. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is scheduled to come up for reauthorization in the next two years.
The Section believes that Hearing Officers conducting special education hearings should share their “unique viewpoint and experience” with Congress in order to improve the process.
NAALJ is asking all hearing officers conducting IDEA due process hearings to join NAALJ (if not a member already) and the Special Education Section and to share their thoughts on how the impartial hearing process may be improved through the next reauthorization.
To learn how to submit a comment or suggestion and participate generally in the process, contact Section Chair Jim Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld recently met with senior Senate staff members to ascertain their interest, identify their concerns and establish a process for the submission of suggestions.
Administrative Judicial Institute Program: Implicit Bias in Judicial Decision Making: Striving for Fairness from the Bench
The Administrative Judicial Institute invites administrative law judges to attend a program entitled “Implicit Bias in Judicial Decision Making: Striving for Fairness from the Bench”, on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2011, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The program will be presented by Columbia Professor Dana Carney and New York University Law School Professor Sarah Burns and will focus on helping judges understand how unintended biases develop and can impact judicial decision making, and how they might be avoided or addressed.
The program will be held at the Institute’s 14th Floor Lecture Room at 40 Rector Street and will provide 2 CLE credits in ethics.
A description of the program is posted on the Institute’s website.
Please share this announcement with your fellow judges and tribunal attorneys.
To register, go to the Upcoming Programs link on the Institute website.
Update on 11/19/10 ALJ CLE Update
If for some reason you didn’t know about the fact that we presented an all-day continuing legal education program through Pace Law School’s Center for Continuing Legal Education on November 19, 2010 at Pace University’s New York City Campus we wanted to fill you in.
The law update included a myriad of topics – due process, hearing requirements, discussion of handling pro se litigants, evidence, hearing management, ethics, and New York’s body of statutory and regulatory law and rules, including the New York State Bar Association’s Model Rules for New York State ALJs.
The speakers included Hon. James McClymonds, President of NYSALJA, Hon. Ruth Kraft, President-Elect of NYSALJA, Hon. Edward R. Mevec, Hon. Eric Zaidins and Hon. Teresa DeMeo.
If you have ideas on future CLE programs, please contact us via email.
By Edward R. Mevec and Eric Zaidins
More info on the Midyear Conference
The conference, which will take place at the State Bar of Georgia, will feature a rigorous academic component. The first day of the conference will be devoted to three core presentations on evidence, statutory interpretation, and legal writing, taught by professors of law from Georgia State University and Mercer University. On the second day, the conference will offer break-out sessions on special education and other topics to augment the core presentations.
In addition to providing an excellent continuing education program, GAAJ will ensure that you enjoy your visit to Atlanta. A block of rooms has been reserved at the historic, cosmopolitan Glenn Hotel, located directly across the street from the State Bar. You will have a spectacular view of downtown Atlanta from the hotel’s rooftop lounge, where the NAALJ Board reception will be held on the evening of Monday, May 2. Your conference registration fee also includes a trip to see the Atlanta Braves play the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday evening, May 3.
Via NAALJ.ORG Feb 2011 Newsletter
Need for Speed
According to our new web host, our site will be receiving security enhancements and performance improvements on 3/9/2011 between the hours of 1:00pm and 11:00pm EST.
The total downtime is anticipated to be at least 15 minutes, but no more than 2 hours.
3/4/11 | 5pm: Calendar’s Back
Update: For the moment, we have the “Events Calendar” back.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
3/4/11 | 3:30pm: $#*!
Our usually reliable “Events Calendar” takes advantage of the Google Calendar cloud application. Unfortunately, it’s not working at the moment. Hopefully, they’ll fix the problem soon. If not, we’ll just have to come up with a more reliable calendar program.
Stay tuned.
Grant Application Due April 1 (Altanta Midyear Conference)
The New York State Administrative Law Judges Association (NYSALJA) is offering a $500 grant to assist a NYSALJA member in attending the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ) 2011 Mid-Year Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, from May 2 to May 4, 2011.
Grant recipients must meet the following criteria:
- the recipient must be a current paid member of NYSALJA;
- the recipient must register for and attend the 2011 NAALJ Mid-Year Conference in Atlanta, Georgia; and
- the recipient must not have received a grant from NYSALJA in the last three years.
To be considered for the grant, please submit a written request to me by e-mail to James T. McClymonds, which must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, April 1, 2011. The winner will be randomly drawn from the names submitted, and notified prior to the conference. The winner will be reimbursed $500 within approximately 2 weeks of receipt of proof of conference attendance.
Any questions should be directed to me at the email or telephone below.
Thank you and good luck.
James T. McClymonds
President, NYSALJA
(518) 285-0070
NAALJ 2011 Midyear Conference
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NAALJ’s 2011 Midyear Conference is in Atlanta, Georgia from May 2 to 4, 2011
Click here for exciting details on NAALJ’s web site! Click this link to see the Conference Brochure |
