Graying of the Judiciary: NY Reconsiders Mandatory Retirement or Recertification

Posted by Alan Childress
Following up on a previous post about coming ethical issues in the demographic wave of aging baby boomers, I note that David Giacalone over at f/k/a has helpfully posted on the issue of mandatory retirement and related age issues for judges.  He discusses and links this Law.com (NYLJ) article today on a proposal in New York to recertify judges after age 70, along with rethinking the mandatory retirement rule:  "Court of Appeals judges should not be exempted from having their physical and mental fitness certified if they want to remain on the Court past age 70, the New York State Bar Association's House of Delegates determined Saturday."  The trend in the House of Delegates is, however, away from a fixed cut-off age, and the House "also adopted the recommendation of another committee...that law firms should abandon mandatory retirement age limits for their partners and show flexibility in hours and work assignments for older lawyers who want to keep practicing."