Lavery Appointed To Appellate Court Administrator’s Post

By John Voket

Early next year, Newtown resident and Appellate Court Chief Judge William Lavery will be taking the next step in his 42-plus year career of service to the Connecticut judicial system. Earlier this week, Chief Court Administrator Joseph H. Pellegrino announced that he will be accepting senior judge status, effective February 1.

Subsequently Chief Justice William Sullivan named Judge Lavery to take over responsibilities as chief court administrator.

Judge Pellegrino will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in June 2006. Prior to reaching age 70, judges may elect senior judge status. Judge Pellegrino will continue to hear Appellate Court cases as a senior judge, as he also is a judge of the Appellate Court.

Saying he was extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as chief court administrator, Judge Pellegrino took a moment to compliment his successor.

“I know that Judge Lavery will do an excellent job,” Judge Pellegrino said. “He is a very experienced administrator and a superb judge.”

In his new capacity as chief court administrator, Judge Lavery will oversee day-to-day operations of the Judicial Branch. Judge Lavery told The Bee this week his new duties will involve 45 separate state court facilities including two jails and three juvenile detention facilities, in a system employing more than 4,000 staff members.

“One of my most important jobs will be overseeing the budget, which is about the most important element of any [branch of government],” Judge Lavery said. The current judicial budget for the state totals approximately $397 million, he said.

“It is a great honor to succeed Judge Pellegrino. He has played a significant role in administering the Judicial Branch and one of his most noteworthy accomplishments is the reduction of the civil case backlog,” Judge Lavery said.

While Judge Lavery has enjoyed a wealth of experience in the judicial, municipal, and nonprofit sectors (see related feature),  he admitted that his new position as court administrator will draw upon virtually every skill set he has developed throughout his long and esteemed career.

“Having sat on civil, criminal, juvenile, and family cases I’ve got a good understanding of how each proceeding is handled,” he said. “This will be a benefit since I’ll be responsible for assigning judges to particular courts.”

Judge Lavery said that during his tenure, he has had the opportunity to get to know the particular strengths of many of the state’s judges, which will also help him when making strategic assignments. He noted that in some smaller courts, he will tap justices that can easily adapt to several different proceedings.

“That way if the civil cases are up to date and the family court is running behind, they can lend a hand in that courtroom on any given day to get caught up,” he said.

Prior to taking on his new responsibilities in February, Judge Lavery said he plans to meet with every department head in the judicial system to “review all obligations and duties.” And while he has been to or served in virtually every courthouse south of Hartford, he is looking forward to visiting many of the northern and eastern court facilities in the coming weeks.

One of the greatest challenges Judge Lavery anticipates, besides overseeing the multimillion dollar judicial budget, is to pick up from where Judge Pellegrino left off in helping to make the Connecticut court system one of the premier judicial organizations in the country moving toward paperless administration of filings and docket business.

“Judge Pellegrino introduced an e-filing system that is among the top two most advanced of its kind in the United States,” Judge Lavery said. “I want to be able to pick up where he left off because our cases keep increasing and creating more opportunities for paperless filing will be a great benefit to our system.”

Judge Lavery explained that while law firms can still file motions and complaints on paper, he eventually sees a system where virtually all filings can be done via computer from law offices.

“This will reduce the amount of paper and human traffic in our facilities,” he said.

The move toward a paperless court system also creates new opportunities for court workers who can become more proficient in electronic and computer systems, as well as for individuals who will travel across the state to law offices providing in-house orientation to the paperless systems.

Another one of his primary charges will be to work directly with Gov M. Jodi Rell on budgetary matters, and with legislative leaders as they entertain new initiatives related to the judiciary.

“We will always want to be up to date on what types of legislation affects us and why it’s being considered,” Judge Lavery said. “And of course we want to know if they are paying for it.”

Judge Lavery said that he has enjoyed all his years as a judge and was honored to be asked to accept this appointment.

“I will do my best to fulfill this great responsibility,” he said.

And when he eventually moves on to his next endeavor, whether in the judicial system or elsewhere, Judge Lavery said he simply wants to ensure that every person who has an experience in the state’s judicial system comes away feeling they have been treated fairly.

“Hopefully while I’m here I can help the court system run more efficiently,” he said. “I would like to know that every person feels they got an impartial hearing, and that ultimately they’ve been treated fairly.”