NYS Court of Appeals- Court room

New York State Court of Appeals 

I had the opportunity along with a few other students in the class, to attend the court of appeals trip on Tuesday, March 19th. It took us 3 hours to get there, but it was a comfortable ride because our bus (a nicely interior one at that) had tables on it, so we were able to place our books to study,  use or laptops/tablets to get a preview of the cases we were going to hear- you name it. We arrived to Albany around 12pm; we had lunch and went straight to the court, which was nothing close to what I expected. The court personnel were so friendly, welcoming, and willing to answer any question I had for them. I even took a picture with court officer Jenny; I spoke to a retired judge, Judge Pigot,  who was very nice and gave me brief history on the judges, whose pictures surrounded the court room. Now the 7 judges of the court, ( the hot bench)  is a completely different story. They were brutal with the attorneys and I mean brutal; they would ask a question and before the attorney could fully answer, the judge (S) would interject with question after question, ( double, even triple teaming them) hampering  the attorney from  answering  the previous question that was asked. In total, we heard 3  consolidated timed cases, which went fast. I  can tell you so much, but I’ll end up writing my entire paper instead of a post. my main advice, is ASK! Do not be afraid to ask anyone anything. You won’t get the information you need otherwise. Focus more on what you see, and what is going on during the case; don’t just focus on the case. try to write a quickly as possible to get as much information as you can. I would suggest wearing something casual, to give yourself that, “I’m studying law look” (just an opinion but not necessary )  GOOD LUCK CLASS!

-Nicole