THE SECRET COURT

SURROGATE'S RACE DRAWS BIG POLITICAL GUNS-BUT NOT MUCH INTEREST FROM VOTERS By Susan Campriello In New York, sometimes standing out in a crowd can be difficult. On the corner of Broadway and West 96th Street one humid evening, John Reddy, Jr., a candidate for New York County Surrogate's Court, competed for attention with a pair of people promoting a paint sale and a scattering of MTA employees advising commuters that a station entrance was closed. In his khakis, blue shirt and red striped tie, Reddy might have blended in with the passing New Yorkers. But he was standing still, two staffers forming a wall of campaign signs behind him. "Hi, Manhattan Democrat?" he chirped, roughly 30 times a minute, while shaking hand with and passing campaign flyers to anyone who stopped. One man-one of a small pool of passersby who seemed familiar with the Surrogate's Court-stopped for a brief chat, expressing frustration at what he perceived as the court's corruption. Reddy, who is running on a platform of ideas to change the way the court is run, tried to make his case to the man. He did not appear to succeed. "There's nothing you can do about it, John," the man said. "I'll see what I can do," Reddy called after him. Reddy is not the only candidate talking change in the race to succeed Judge Renee Roth, who is aging off the court at 70 this year. The Surrogate's Court settles serious matters concerning adoptions, guardians, estates and wills, but once again this year, the debate about its future is a lively one. And like this Upper West Side corner, the race is crowded, with Judge Milton Tingling and Nora Anderson also vying for the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 9 primary. Surrogate laws and practices are idiosyncratic. The three candidates agree that the general public is unfamiliar with the court, and that lawyers who practice there are not always well informed, either. The candidates also hope to speed up litigation time. The primary race has already drawn more attention than usual due to the number of New York City political names it has drawn. As a consultant, Reddy has hired The Parkside Group, which has helped several members of the City Council and State Legislature, as well as current Surrogate Kristin Booth Glenn, win elections. Chung Seto and Kevin Wardally of Bill Lynch Associates, who have worked for Hillary Clinton's campaigns, among others, are overseeing Tingling's fundraising and campaigning. Tingling also counts former Mayor David Dinkins and Rep. Charles Rangel as two of his most public supporters. Nora Anderson has Michael Oliva, a longtime grassroots organizer and political strategist, managing her campaign, while Lisa Hernandez Gioia of The Esler Group, which has consulted for Gov. David Paterson among other candidates, is doing her fundraising. Tingling, who has been a Supreme Court justice in Manhattan for seven years, has also been out meeting voters. Recently, Council Member Inez Dickens stood next to Tingling along 135th Street, introducing him to the people trickling into the subway station. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="233" caption="Tingling Hitting the Streets"][/caption] "Good morning, good morning! This is Judge Tingling, he's running for Surrogate's Court. Please support him, he's from my community," she shouted, nearly drowning out buses and trucks on Lenox Avenue. Behind her, staff from a consulting firm handed flyers to commuters. Tingling greeted people more intimately, turning every handshake into an elongated grasp. One woman stopped, looking confused. The candidate approached asking slowly, "No habla inglÃ&Copy;s?" When she shook her head, Tingling turned his flyer over, revealing his qualifications written in Spanish. Translators, Tingling said, are just part of his two-pronged approach to making the court more accessible to Manhattan's diverse population. Translators could not only assist those involved with cases in the court but can help teach people about wills and estates. Such meetings could take place in the satellite court offices Tingling said he hopes to open, if elected. Most people know little about the Surrogate's Court beyond being familiar with celebrity cases, like those of Woody Allen, Brooke Astor and J. Seward Johnson. Tingling hopes to enhance the court's profile so that the first experience the average New Yorker has there is not as a litigant. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="268" caption="Anderson Hitting the Streets"][/caption] "There are cases going on there, there are people being affected all the time, but nobody knows," he said, "It's basically a secret court." Reddy also hopes to open the court by making it more friendly and welcoming to those unfamiliar with the Surrogate's practices. A probate law instructor, Reddy believes that as more lawyers become familiar with the court, the court will become less of a mystery to litigants. His 13 years as counsel to the public administrator, which handles estates for people who die without a will and wills with vague instructions, have prepared him for the bench, he argues. Anderson, who was a clerk in the Surrogate's Court for nearly five years under former Surrogate Eve Preminger and has litigated in the court, has a different idea for speeding up proceedings. If elected, she would rotate clerks. This, she argues, would allow clerks to master all areas of the court and be better able to assist litigants. Rotating existing staff would also eliminate the need to hire, and pay, more clerks, she said. Anderson also said she hopes to encourage would-be litigants to settle out of court, since proceedings can be expensive, time-consuming and stressful. Anderson has cut back hours with the Brooklyn law firm Seth Rubenstein, P.C. in order to spend time campaigning at greenmarkets, street fairs and on sidewalks. On one recent evening, she hopped, teetered and pirouetted in heels along Eighth Avenue between West 22nd and 23rd streets, dodging and following potential voters. Wearing a tailored black suit over a sleeveless knit zebra-print top, she tried to get pedestrians to stop and talk. "Hi, I'm running for Surrogate Court and I need your support," she said. "Hi, I'm running to be a judge. I've got a great website." But there wasn't much time for Anderson to talk about campaign specifics. If she wasn't explaining how to register as a Democrat, she was shouting out summaries of what the court does and what she would do as judge, if elected. "A large part of this campaign," Anderson said, "has been education." ---------- THE CANDIDATES Manhattan Surrogate's Court is where estates and contested wills are settled and adoption decisions are made. The court's two judges are each elected to serve 14-year terms, but they must resign at the end of the calendar year in which they turn 70, as Judge Renee Roth will in December. With no Republican running, the winner of a three-way Democratic primary, on Sept. 9, will join Judge Kristin Booth Glenn, who was elected in 2005, on the bench. Nora Anderson was a clerk in Surrogate's Clerk, John Reddy, Jr. is counsel to the Public Administrator and Judge Milton Tingling has served as a judge in criminal, civil and supreme courts. Though all three candidates have been endorsed by organizations and individuals across Manhattan, the county Democratic committee is backing Tingling. AN INSIDER'S EXPERIENCE Nora Anderson wants to replace her boss. A former clerk in the Surrogate's Court, Anderson worked under Judge Eve Preminger and later under Judge Renee Roth, who will retire by year's end. Anderson has never sought office before and said she has cut back on her hours at the Brooklyn law firm Seth Rubinstein, P. C. to devote time to campaigning. Although she still accepts and tries cases, the campaign takes up most of her time and energy. After spending all day with voters and supporters, she returns to her Upper West Side apartment only to sleep. Anderson studied biology at Hampton University and worked briefly in a laboratory researching cures for tropical diseases before deciding to pursue a law degree instead. She attended Brooklyn Law School at night while working full time in the Office of General Counsel at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Anderson argues that her experience in Surrogate's Court makes her the best candidate. She knows the law, the court and how the appeals process works, she explained, so she can write the strongest decisions. As a former clerk in the court, Anderson said educating clerks in all aspects of the law and probate proceedings will help things run more smoothly. Rotating clerks around the various departments will also expose them to all aspects of the Surrogate's Court, eliminating the need to hire more personnel. This will streamline work, too: file clerks sometimes direct lawyers to complete or edit forms in different ways, causing delays in paper processing and, ultimately, overall proceedings. Anderson also wants clerks who help litigants without representation to help attorneys who are unfamiliar with the laws surrounding the execution of wills and the settling of estates. And finally, as a lawyer, Anderson said she has a better understanding of litigators' busy schedules and overhead costs. Her overall goal, though, is to help more New Yorkers avoid actually going to Surrogate's Court to settle estates. Trying a case in any court, she said, usually takes more time and money for litigants than if the parties involved can settle the issue themselves. The stakes are also higher. "When you come to court," she said, "You're putting you life in the hands of a judge or a jury." READY FOR SURROGATE'S CHANGE Surrogate's Court cases that capture public attention usually involve large estates once owned by wealthy individuals. But John Reddy, Jr., counsel to the Manhattan Public Administrator, knows that the court serves New Yorkers from all walks of life, and battles there are not just about money. "It's about all kinds of things," he said, including appointments of guardians for children and ill individuals, as well as estates. Reddy is a newcomer to political campaigns, but he is familiar with the struggles and issues that New Yorkers face when a loved one dies. He considered running in the 2005 election to replace Judge Eve Preminger on the court, but ultimately decided not to get in the race due to injury and illness within his family. Born into a family of workers and craftsmen, Reddy naturally drifted toward construction. He switched gears as an undergraduate at Fordham University and decided to become a lawyer instead, earning tuition for New York Law School by working as a vendor at Shea Stadium and in a Queens steel mill. During the campaign, Reddy has not stopped working at the Manhattan Public Administrator, which handles estates for people who die without a will or with vaguely worded documentation. He said that his experience there makes him the top choice in the Surrogate's race. When he was first hired 13 years ago, Reddy was charged with closing more than 2,000 cases that had been open for at least four years. He finished up all but 40 within three years, he said, and he hopes to repeat that record with other open cases at the Surrogate's Court. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Reddy taught attorneys about probate law, which covers will verification and, if there is no will, how property distribution and tax payment should be handled. He has participated in will and estate workshops for minority lawyers, and educated potential guardians about their duties. Guardianship is one area that Reddy would like to change, if elected to the court. Judges have often appointed friends to certain cases, which is not fair to those who do not have ties to a judge, Reddy argues. He proposes having potential guardians apply with the court and be selected through lottery. It's up to the Surrogate judges to push for important changes like these, he said, because if they do not speak up, no one else will. "It's a process," he said, "and it needs to move forward." OPENING UP THE COURT The way Judge Milton Tingling sees it, the Surrogate's Court is often about the bottom line. A family may come into the court, for example, to gain access to a deceased breadwinner's bank account to pay bills. "Surrogate's Court is a place that you have to go, and it affects you on an immediate level," said Tingling, who is a New York State Supreme Court judge. Tingling has already adjudicated cases in the criminal, civil and supreme courts, and considered running to replace Judge Eve Preminger in 2005. However, he did not run, citing family reasons. Tingling was drawn to the court through his own experience hashing out problems with his great aunt's estate a few years ago. Provisions in her will conflicted with language in her mother's will, which was also problematic. He decided that if he, as a lawyer, had difficulties with family wills, then the average New Yorker was also likely to encounter trouble. As Surrogate, he hopes to bring translators into the court and open satellite offices around the borough to make the court more accessible to the public. Tingling says he is familiar with the many tensions and questions that occur in Surrogate's court because he is one of three Supreme Court judges who hear guardianship cases (if elected, Tingling's seat on the Supreme Court would be filled by a judge appointed by Gov. David Paterson, according to the Office of Court Administration). Tingling is proud to have assigned cases to new lawyers, guardians and the evaluators who select guardians and says he would continue to do so as Surrogate. He says he would encourage lawyers to take cases pro bono, arguing that lawyers in many large firms already perform work for no pay. As Surrogate, Tingling said that he would create an independent panel of lawyers and community activists without a law degree to recommend appointments for guardianships. This would replace the current system, which allows judges to appoint guardians at their own discretion. Going forward, he would like to see the Supreme Court absorb the Surrogate's Court, which, he thinks lacks oversight. With two judges who are their own administrators, the Surrogate's Court answers to no entity. "I'm not waiting for oversight," he said. "I'm opening it up." ----------