On Judging And The Rule Of Law: An Interview With Justice Rolando Acosta

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking on the button below. Thanks!

I’ve had several current and former federal judges on this podcast (with more in the pipeline), but I have not yet had a state judge as a guest—even though around 95 percent of cases are filed in state court. So I was delighted to interview Justice Rolando Acosta, who during more than 25 years on the bench was one of the most prominent and respected judges in the country. He served as a trial and appellate judge in New York from 1997 until earlier this year, when he stepped down after six years as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department. In March 2023, he joined the New York office of Pillsbury Winthrop as a litigation partner.

In our conversation, Justice Acosta and I discussed his childhood growing up in the Dominican Republic, where living under a dictatorship instilled in him a deep appreciation for democracy; his time in college as a star pitcher for Columbia, which led him to seriously consider a career in professional baseball; his community organizing and work as a Legal Aid lawyer, public service that culminated in his judicial career; and threats to judicial independence—including his candid comments on the failed nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to the New York Court of Appeals.

My thanks to Justice Acosta—or Rolando, as he asked me to call him—for joining me. You can listen to our discussion via the embed at the top of this post, or through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcasting platform of choice.

Show Notes:

• Rolando Acosta bio, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

• How To Modernize an Appellate Court in Five Years, by Rolando Acosta for the New York Law Journal

• A Sitting Justice Speaks To Troubled Times: An Interview With Hon. Rolando T. Acosta, by Joel Cohen for the New York Law Journal

• As First Department Presiding Justice Acosta Plans to Retire, Lawyers Reflect on His Career and Replacement Process Starts, by Jason Grant for the New York Law Journal

Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.

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