BAEC Bulletin | November/December 2022 | 41
Because the schedule for Special Term was published in advance, there was a fair amount of forum shopping, and most motion days, for him, were standing room only. No matter which side of the aisle the lawyers were on, they knew that from him they would get a rational decision on the law in a timely manner, and they loved coming to him with their motions. He would rarely reserve decision, and then only if there was some really interesting issue he was happy to spend some time mulling over. The other law clerks were jealous--- they agreed with me that he was perfect, except for his cigar. Oh, the cigars. Not so bad when we were in 77 West Eagle where the windows opened, but in the City Court building, he ignored a few ordinances and smoked all afternoon. No one had the guts to try to enforce the code with him. I never expected to work for him for 28 years. But he had no objections to my teaching, writing or bar association work. He even encouraged it. He was a completely loyal boss. He had hired Joyce Newman as his secretary while she was his bank teller, made sure she had flexible hours for her kids when she came with him to the court on his election, and was happy to welcome her back for his last few years on the bench. I don’t think he ever fired anyone, ever. He mocked firing us plenty over the years, but we always knew that he didn’t mean it. Renee used to chalk it up to his preferring to have strong women around him all of the time. He had a wonderful sense of humor. Over the last few days, lawyers and judges have stopped me to tell me some joke he had told them. He had a can of “bullshit repellent” on his desk, and even used it occasionally. He
loved schmoozing with lawyers in his chambers, all while scheming in his mind just how he was going to settle the case before him. But family always came first. I watched as he cared for his mother and father in their later years. As the only child in Buffalo, it fell upon him to take care of them, and he never to take care of them, and he never complained. He never accepted any invitation to apply to go on the Appellate Division, because it would mean spending so much time on the road. He told me after the first time he was asked that he had never spent a single night away from Renee, and he wasn’t going start just to go to Rochester. There was a beautiful picture of his “girls” (that’s what he called Renee, Sari and Laurie) on his desk. He was so proud of all of the accomplishments of his daughters, who he affectionately called his “Feminist Jewish American Princesses,” and so too with all of his grandchildren. It pained him terribly to have to retire at 76. He insisted on a lot of reunion lunches with his whole crew, and managed to do some guardianship work. But he really missed the daily interaction with other lawyers and judges, and the motion terms, the pretrials and the trials. I hope now he has been put to good use, mediating godly disputes and dispensing justice. Rest well, Joey. • - Sharon S. Gerstman
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