Town and Village Court Justices in New York

Published on 3/25/2013 - Updated on 5/29/24

It is a little-known fact that most town and village justices in New York State are not attorneys. This means these judges never passed the bar and never even went to law school. Some in fact never graduated high school. This is not to say that there is a pervasive problem of injustice in New York justice courts. To the contrary. Most local justices are fair, conscionable public servants doing their utmost to uphold the relevant laws.

However, there are some bad apple justices who do not care about following the law or have no clue how to follow the law. From time to time there are news events about town judges acting inappropriately and contrary to the law. In February of 2019, two Wayne County judges were censured. One judge bullied a local police officer to help with a non-emergency and one judge conducted a preliminary conference without the attorney for the defendant. In December of 2023, John Orzel of Triangle Town Court was forced to resign after multiple instances of inappropriate behavior.

Most matters handled by justice courts are traffic violations. This leads people to conclude that since the matter is not complex and the consequences not severe, there is no reason to get an attorney involved. However, it is specifically in justice court where it may be prudent to retain counsel. It is in these justice courts where you have to worry about being bullied illegally or given wrong information.

It is not infrequent that I have sat in court waiting for my case to be called and heard a local judge give inaccurate information to defendants. Local courts are often understaffed and as a result often make clerical and procedural errors. A good attorney will ensure that a defendant will not suffer the consequences of a court staff error or any misinformation.

The Benjamin Goldman Law Office has been fighting traffic tickets in New York State since 2011. We have dealt with many hundreds of different judges and justice courts. Our firm has handled cases in the remote courts such as Angelica Town Court and Queensbury Town Court. If you are having a problem with a court and would like assistance, then get in touch with us. We will review the circumstances of your case and advise on the best course of action.