daniel j. hurteau, esq....ergo the constant battle in albany police court. prior to joining the...

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1

ANNUAL MEMORIAL SERVICE

OF THE

ALBANY COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

HON. MARGARET T. WALSH, JSC

Presiding Justice

DANIEL J. HURTEAU, ESQ.

ACBA President

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO, ESQ.

Committee Chairman

December 9, 2019

at 9:30 a.m.

Albany County Courthouse

Third Floor

Albany, New York

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IN MEMORIAM

Colin Kenneally, Esq. (April 19, 2019)

Eulogized by John Whelden, Esq. Page 7

George H. Barber, Esq. (May 6, 2019)

Eulogized by Peter Barber, Esq. Page 14

Donald H. Sommers, Esq. (June 2, 2019)

Eulogized by Hon. Andrew Sommers page 19

Robert K. Ruslander, Esq. (September 6, 2019)

Eulogized by Betsy Ruslander, Esq. Page 25

John T. DeGraff, Jr., Esq. (November 23, 2019)

Eulogized by Bob Iseman, Esq. Page 32

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3

(The judges and justices entered.)

CHARLES DIAMOND: All rise. The Supreme

Court for the county of Albany, New York, is

now is session. The judges and justices of

the court, Honorable Margaret T. Walsh,

presiding.

(The judges and justices entered.)

HON. MARGARET T. WALSH: Good morning.

THE ASSEMBLAGE: Good morning.

HON. MARGARET T. WALSH: Please be seated.

On behalf of all the judges who are

present and on behalf of the officers and

members of the Albany County Bar Association,

I welcome the family and friends of the

attorneys we honor today.

We are in the throes of the holiday

season. We just celebrated Thanksgiving not

even two weeks ago. The absence of your

family member must have been felt so intensely

that day, and I'm sure you spent time

appreciating his presence in your lives. I'm

glad that we will all do this together today.

At holiday time we think of home, our

childhood homes and homes of relatives and

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4

friends where we participated in and created

traditions. As members of the Albany County

Bar Association, we share a home, too: this

magnificent building, the Albany County

Courthouse. Our tradition of gathering in

this home to reminisce about the times we have

had with those who have passed comforts and

buoys us.

Today we eulogize the members our county

bar association, but I also wish to take a

moment to remember the Honorable Michael

Melkonian of Rensselaer County, who suddenly

and tragically passed away on October 17th.

Judge Melkonian presided over a vast number of

cases in this courthouse and is known to so

many of us here.

He was first appointed to the Court of

Claims by Governor David Paterson and then

reappointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo,

initially serving in Manhattan. For the last

several years he served as an acting Supreme

Court justice in Rensselaer County, his home

county, as well as by assignment to other

counties in our judicial district.

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Prior to his judicial career, above and

beyond his day job, Mike served as a judge

advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve and the Army

National Guard of New York.

One of his Court of Claims colleagues

noted the following: "Mike was exceedingly

devoted to his wife, Caroline, and to his

children, Olivia and Max. He also mentored

and coached scores of young athletes in

Rensselaer County. Mike was a particular

favorite among his judicial colleagues. His

easy laugh, his infectious personality

punctuated by a treasure trove of unique and

interesting stories, and his self-effacing

humor made him a friend to all, both inside

the courtroom and outside."

My own experience with Mike was

consistent. Every time I saw him he would say

about his judgeship, "I am so lucky. I love

this job. I know how lucky I am to have it."

I and all of us who knew him will miss this

appreciative graciousness.

Now I introduce the president of the

Albany County Bar Association, Daniel Hurteau.

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DANIEL J. HURTEAU, ESQ.: Thank you, your

Honor.

May it please the Court, members of the

judiciary, members of the association,

friends, and family that is present today, my

name is Dan Hurteau, and I am the current

president of the Albany County Bar

Association.

On behalf of the Albany County Bar

Association I want to welcome you to this

memorial service. This event, this service,

is really, truly one of the wonderful things

that the bar association does every year, and

I'm so happy and proud that I can be here to

introduce BJ Costello, who is going to take

over and emcee the program.

So, Mr. Costello.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: Thank you.

Judge Walsh, members of the judiciary,

attorneys, families, friends. Thank you for

that introduction, Dan, and, Judge, thank you

for the comments about the life of Judge

Melkonian.

Today we celebrate the lives of five

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individuals who chose to pursue their

professional lives as lawyers. They accepted

difficult assignments. They worked

tirelessly. They helped thousands of

individuals. And as you will see from

listening today, each journey was quite

different, marked by great personal challenges

and high achievements. But the common theme

was their acceptance of the privilege and the

honor of being lawyers in the very best sense

of the word.

At this time I call upon John Whelden to

eulogize Colin Kenneally.

JOHN WHELDEN, ESQ.: Good morning. It's

an honor and a privilege to stand here and

speak on behalf of Colin Kenneally. It's also

an honor and a privilege to fill in. Paul

Devane was the original speaker, and,

unfortunately, he could not be here today. So

he provided me with his comments, and I'm

going to read them and then perhaps add a

couple of my own.

May it please the Court, honorable judges

and justices, members of the bar, family, and

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COLIN J. KENNEALLY - Eulogized by John Whelden 8

friends, it is indeed an honor and a privilege

to be here today to remember Colin J.

Kenneally, a lifelong friend and colleague.

Colin was born on January 9, 1944, to the

union of Marvin and Vonnie Kenneally, who

resided in St. Vincent de Paul Parish in the

Pine Hills section of Albany. He was the

younger brother of Marvin J., who was an

outstanding athlete at the Vincentian

Institute, the best high school in Albany.

Many of you have heard the appellation

'Smalbany'. Judge Walsh's cousin, John Barry

Paul Ryan, was my childhood best friend, and

together we were paper carriers for the

Kenneally family on Myrtle Avenue.

Colin graduated from Russell Sage College

and Albany Law School. He was admitted to the

bar January 31, 1978. He was an associate in

my office and was mentored by my good friend

and brother-in-law, Bertrand F. Gould. His

practice consisted mainly of criminal defense

work and, as such, joined the Albany County

Public Defender's Office in July of 2002.

Colin was assigned to Albany Police Court

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where Tommy Neidl was the supervising public

defender.

In those days each attorney was assigned

to a certain judge. Colin was assigned to

Judge Rachel Kretser, with whom he had what

some would decipher as a contentious

relationship. The basis for this acrimony was

the proliferation of animal cruelty cases.

Judge Kretser was the original PETA person and

Colin was an avid advocate for his defendants,

ergo the constant battle in Albany Police

Court.

Prior to joining the public defender's

office Colin was an 18B attorney assigned to

indigent defendants in Albany County Court.

He was assigned to a sensational case of

robbery, rape, and sodomy. Colin had a female

defendant, June Benson. And John Doherty,

Esq., and John Whelden, Esq., both from the

public defender's office, defended Booger

Brown. Ms. Benson had given a statement

versus Mr. Booger Brown, and, therefore, they

could not be tried together. No problem. Two

separate juries in one trial, a first for

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Albany County. The Honorable Thomas Keegan

presided. Needless to say, both were

convicted and sentenced to long terms in

prison.

Colin was one of the "three amigos" in

Albany Police Court, along with the late Tommy

Neidl and subsequent Supervisor John Whelden.

A serious illness overtook Colin's wife,

causing him to move to Arizona. He

anticipated a December 2009 retirement, but

because of a personnel shortage in the public

defender's office, the director asked him to

stay on until April 2010. Always a team

player, he agreed to do so, and rode off into

the sunset to Arizona in the summer of 2010.

RIP, Colin J. Kenneally.

On a personal note I had the pleasure of

knowing Colin throughout my career practicing

law, which started in the public defender's

office many years ago.

Paul referenced Colin's work as an 18B

attorney, that is, an attorney assigned to an

indigent defendant who cannot be represented

by the public defender's office. In the 1980s

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and 1990s, we didn't have a conflict

defender's office, or an alternate public

defender, but rather worked from a list, and

those assignments were made by the public

defender's office. I know that because it was

my job to do so for about 13 years.

I cannot tell you how many cases I

assigned to Colin Kenneally, in every court in

this county, every type of crime, misdemeanor

to felony, and some of them on extremely short

notice, as in, "Colin, I got a preliminary

hearing in an hour. Can you be there?"

And the answer was always "yes."

And I knew that that defendant was going

to get the best possible representation by an

experienced, knowledgeable, dedicated

attorney.

Paul also mentioned the three amigos in

the Albany City Court. Colin, Tommy, and I

were substantially older than most of our

colleagues who were fresh out of law school,

and that's where were trying to teach as we

went along.

Colin invariably had two young attorneys

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assigned to work with him in court. They

would have their caseload but looked to him

for help, which he always gave. Whenever he

had a complicated case or a trial, he invited

them to work with him. He was a fabulous

mentor to these young people. He always did

so with a sense of humor and happily.

It was mentioned by Paul about the animal

cruelty cases. I can only tell you there were

two specific trials that occurred within a

year. They were both dog cruelty cases, both

before Judge Kretser, both for which Colin was

the defense counsel. I can just characterize

the teamwork as "memorable" experiences. I

was with him after hours, before hours, trial

prep, and perhaps venting along the way.

Paul also mentioned that Colin stayed on.

The time Colin was going to retire was going

to be in June of 2009. The first term of that

year Judge Kretser was going to be in part one

in Albany City Court, which is by far the

busiest and needs experienced and numerous

personnel. The second term Judge Kretser was

going to be in part two. She had a bunch of

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trials and hearings all scheduled and, again,

was going to be busy.

The public defender's office could not

replace him when he walked out the door

because he had a lot of time to use up. And

so the public defender at the time was Peter

Torncello. Peter and I went to Colin and

basically begged him to stay.

He said, "I will have to talk to my wife.

I will get back to you." And the next day he

came and said, "No problem. I am here." He

did it for his clients. He did it for his

colleagues and for the office.

On off days I would see Colin in the

office once in a while, weekends, holidays,

doing research, trial prep, whatever. And

invariably his uniform was running shoes, gray

sweatpants, and a Kelly green pullover hoodie.

Some years later Paul was a little bit

off, I think, when Colin moved. Colin was

gone from the office. It came time that I

retired, and people in the office very kindly

gave me a surprise retirement party.

As I walked through the door with my chin

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hanging on my chest, absolutely awed by what

was going on, one of the first people I saw

was Colin. This party occurred on a weekday

right after work, so everybody was in business

attire -- suits, ties, dresses -- except

Colin. He was in running shoes, gray

sweatpants, and a Kelly green pullover hoodie.

But he was not that way just to be casual

or to be flippant. He was dressed that way

because he had just gotten off the couch where

he had been for three days with the flu to

come to the party. He came out in the middle

of December at night to be with his colleagues

and to be with me on the day I retired.

That was my colleague and that was my

friend, Colin Kenneally.

God bless you, Colin.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: Thank you,

John.

George Barber, Esq., will be eulogized by

his son, Peter Barber.

PETER BARBER, ESQ.: Members of the

judiciary, colleagues and friends, before I

started, actually, would like to invite my

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GEORGE H. BARBER - Eulogized by Peter Barber 15

brother, Herb, if I could, to stand next to

me.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: Sure.

PETER BARBER, ESQ.: The reason why,

actually, is because Herb was part --

obviously, he's my brother and the oldest of

five of George and Mary, our parents. And

Herb had the pleasure -- the honor, I think,

actually -- the highlight of his career was

working with his father for at least 20,

25 years?

HERB BARBER: Yes.

PETER BARBER, ESQ.: Thank you. I'm not

really good with numbers. All I know is that

they were constant.

The reason my father and -- it's funny to

say this -- and I have asked other people,

actually, to do this for me today because I

can get very emotional about this -- is my

father was the kindest, most gracious, most

respectful person I have met, with one caveat:

I put my mother in the same category. They

were devoted to, basically, serving others.

When my father retired in February of

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1998, there was a nice article written about

him in the Times Union, and it highlighted,

basically, his career. He was considered to

be the dean of appeals. He argued well over

400 cases in the appellate division, 87

separate appearances in front of the Court of

Appeals. Sol Greenberg deemed him basically

the person to go to for appeals in the area.

Now, that was 20 years ago. What I always

found remarkable about that was the caption of

the photo that accompanied that article.

Basically it showed my father at Nino's Bakery

at 6 o'clock in the morning, picking up the

daily bread to deliver to soup kitchens.

That is what I always remember about my

father, is that he was always out there doing

whatever he could to help others, whether it

was a daily pick-up of bread at 5 o'clock in

the morning at bakeries -- I would know that,

Herb would know that, because on those rare

times he couldn't do it we would be asked.

We'd get very detailed instructions: what door

to go to, what types of bread to deliver to

what soup kitchens. My father was very detail

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oriented.

That's the other thing about my father.

He never woke up and said, "What are you going

to do today?" My father always had a plan for

the day. There was nothing that he didn't

already plan. For each part of the day he

always had a mission in life.

In addition to, again, being with soup

kitchens, he also was instrumental in

establishing Albany Maritime Ministries, which

is an organization that basically greets

sailors at the port and takes them to places

where they can't get access to, whether it's

shopping, use of phones back in those days was

very important, taking them to church, even to

a mosque. So many of these sailors were

coming from foreign countries.

Again, it was pretty remarkable living in

that household. My father was incredibly

quiet, very reserved, very studious. He never

used the word "hate," as far as I know. He

was very religious and very Catholic in how he

viewed life. Again, he would be very

embarrassed that I'm actually standing up here

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and talking about him. He was a very private

individual. He did not want adulation.

Sorry, Dad, for doing this to you, but I

felt it was necessary.

Do you want to add anything, Herb?

HERB BARBER: Yes. George and Mary Barber

were very religious, and they went to the Holy

Land. They went to Greece where they were --

the journeys of Saint Paul -- and they were

very active in the charismatic renewal. He

was a very humble man, and I will always be

grateful that he always helped me, to provide

for me and for his four other children. So we

are just very grateful for him.

He was an incredibly strong man. It was

incredible how strong he was. I never really

knew it until he got into his eighties and he

was just as strong as I was. But, anyway,

that's not his only strength he needed. He

was not always just silent. He measured his

words and always knew what he wanted to say.

He was a very good person.

PETER BARBER, ESQ.: Thank you.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: Thank you.

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DONALD H. SOMMERS - Eulogized by Andrew Sommers 19

Donald H. Sommers will be eulogized by his

son, the Honorable Andrew Sommers.

HON. ANDREW SOMMERS: Judge Walsh, members

of the judiciary, fellow attorneys, friends,

and colleagues.

Like Peter Barber, I have a very difficult

job today. It's very difficult to summarize

my dad's career of nearly 69 years as an

attorney, but I will try.

First of all, in his day he was one of the

great personal injury lawyer in the Capital

Region. He got verdict after verdict after

verdict throughout the years, some of them

against the best defense firms in the area.

Jurors could relate to him because he was a

regular guy just like them. He understood

their mindset and he related to them on a

personal level because he was so down to

earth. Many of them later contacted my father

in order to ask Dad to represent them in a

legal matter. At my father's passing we had

many clients who were either grandchildren or

great grandchildren of some of those clients.

Although he never tried cases in his last

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years, he never lost his uncanny ability to

analyze a case. Those of you who are football

fans -- you know I'm a sports addict -- can

understand how Bill Parcells broke down the

game table in football. That's how my father

looked at cases.

I would sit down with him on a Saturday

morning at the conference table with papers

everywhere. He would say to me, "Who are your

witnesses? Which documents are you going to

put in with which witnesses?"

He would take it all in for a few minutes,

and then, like a master, he would work his

hands on the table and say, "I don't think you

need that witness. I'd call that witness

first. I'd save that one for last. Put this

one somewhere in the middle." And he would

analyze the case and have it broken down in a

matter of half an hour, an uncanny legal

ability that he never lost even as he

approached 69 years as an attorney.

There are so many stories I could tell

about my dad. One of the things he was most

proud about was he was a World War II veteran.

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He served from 1943 until 1946. A year ago,

on December 7, 2018, he was in New Scotland

Town Court. He was waiting for his case to be

called.

Murray Carr was there, an attorney in

Albany. Murray's case was called and in front

of the entire courtroom Murray said, "Judge,

we have in our midst a World War II veteran,

and today is Pearl Harbor Day. I think we

should all be very proud that he's here

today." Whereupon, the entire courtroom stood

up and clapped for my father. He was a very

humble man, but I can tell you this: He loved

that story. He was so proud of it.

Dad's finest legacy, I think -- and he had

so many -- has been told to me by lawyers over

the years. Some lawyers who are my age, some

lawyers who are older, would tell me the

following story:

They would be in the courtroom, kind of

unsure of themselves, maybe they hadn't been

there before, not knowing exactly what to do

or what to say. My father would zone in on

those lawyers -- he may not even know them --

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walk up to them and say, "How can I help you?"

My father would sit there and mentor them

in the court to tell them, "This is what the

judge is looking for. Just relax. It'll be

fine. This is the way you need to present

things to the Court." That story was told to

me by so many lawyers.

Just to give you a few examples, Victor

Caponera told me the exact same story, and

he's been practicing for 40 years. And about

a week after my dad's funeral, I got a call

from Spike Solomon. Spike had not been at the

funeral, so he didn't hear me say that in the

eulogy. And he said to me, "You know what I

liked best about your dad?"

I said, "What's that, Spike?"

He said, "I was a young lawyer in 1966. I

was in Schenectady County Family Court for the

first time. I had never been in that court.

I had never even been to Schenectady as a

lawyer. And I was completely lost." He said,

"Your dad saw me in the crowd in the attorneys

room, walked right up to me, came up to me,"

and did the same things I just talked about

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here.

And then at the end of it, Spike said, "By

the way, do you know where a gas station is?

My car is almost out of gas."

My father -- this is true -- my father

said to him, "Do me a favor. Just wait for me

to finish my case." What did my dad do? He

drove him to the gas station. That's the kind

of man my father was.

Most importantly, my father was a

gentleman. If I could have a quarter for

every time I heard the word "gentleman"

discussing my dad, either in a card, a note,

or a phone call, I would be a very rich man.

A few years ago when I needed court

coverage and I couldn't get a Colonie judge,

Judge John Bailey offered to cover my relief.

But he didn't want to talk about that. He

wanted to tell me about my dad.

He said to me, "You know, your dad is such

a gentleman. He's just so put-together. He

knows exactly how things work in a courtroom."

He said, "I wish he could teach a seminar for

young lawyers on how to act and how to present

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in a courtroom."

Another judge, who happens to be here

today, is Judge Spain, a judge I have appeared

in front of throughout my career a number of

times. I have a lot of respect for him as

well. I told him today that I was going to

read a little bit of the note that I received

from him.

This is Judge Spain's words:

"Don Sommers was an effective,

hardworking, and unassuming lawyer who brought

great honor to the profession throughout his

long career. When I would see him in the

courthouse or on the street, I would be

greeted with that beaming smile. He seemed to

enjoy every aspect of being a lawyer. He will

forever be a good example to all of us."

Finally, Dad made his last court

appearance at the age of 68 years and

11 months, before he passed. He made that

court appearance in front of Judge Maney.

When I saw Judge Maney shortly after that, he

said to me, "I can't tell you what an honor it

is to have your father in my courtroom."

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I think between Judge Spain, Judge Bailey,

and Judge Maney -- I think they summarized my

father beautifully. He wasn't just a great

father. He wasn't just a partner of mine for

37 years. He wasn't just a great mentor. He

was an iconic example of how you were supposed

to act as an attorney to make us all proud.

For that we will all miss him.

Thank you very much.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: I'm sure

we are all feeling very humbled at this point.

Thank you.

Robert K. Ruslander will be eulogized by

his daughter, Betsy.

BETSY RUSLANDER, ESQ.: Good morning, your

Honors. Good morning, everyone. My

condolences to all those who have lost loved

ones.

I am Betsy Ruslander, and it's my

privilege to deliver these remarks in honor of

my father, who was my Atticus Finch. I am so

proud to be Bob Ruslander's daughter.

My dad was a native son of Albany, which

may have been the basis of his certain

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ROBERT K. RUSLANDER - Eulogized by Betsy Ruslander 26

affinity for the Honorable Learned Hand,

although from what I understand, their

temperaments were quite opposite. In high

school my dad was senior class officer,

lettered in three sports, and was voted

All-Albany End by the Times Union, a title he

was so proud of. He graduated from Michigan

State and served in the Army.

My parents met in 1953, married the

following year, and spent more than 55 years

together until she died in 2009. My mom

worked as a secretary for Matthew Bender,

putting my dad through Albany Law School,

encouraging him all along the way.

He was going to run for class officer and

thought secretary. She told him, "If you are

going to run, run for president." And he did,

and he won. He so enjoyed working with Judge

Bob Doran and his other classmates in

coordinating their law school reunions for so

many years.

He worked for a law firm for a short time

before joining the Albany law firm of

Ainsworth, Sullivan, Tracy and Knauf at 75

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State Street, 14th floor, where it lived for

about 80 years from its start in 1908 until

later moving out of downtown. The firm's

hallmark was insurance defense, and he was a

trial attorney for nearly 50 years, earning

the respect and affection of all who worked

with him. He served as managing partner and

ultimately the firm bore his name.

But his livelihood was more than a job.

His partners became his family, and the

McHenrys and Cardonas and Teresis became our

family, too. So many times a teenage child of

one partner or another, including some named

Ruslander, would call my dad with a speeding

ticket or the like, and he never betrayed

their confidence. All he would say is, "Why

did you wait until the return date to tell

me?"

When we were little, when he went off to

work in the morning, we used to have a saying:

"Have a good day. Have a good trial. And

watch the brakes." One time I happened to say

that my dad was on trial, and somebody asked

me, "Why? What did he do?"

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He was past president of the Albany County

Bar Association for which he had penned a

charming column on books of interest, of

course, as reading was his passion. He had

such great fondness for all those he had the

pleasure to work with at the bar association,

including Barbara Davis and Rosemary Allequa.

When Barb retired, he was thrilled to

participate in her party by drafting a list

called "Barb, How Much Do I Owe You?" For

example, "When in Doubt, Ask Barb"; "When

Lost, Seek Barb"; "When Need a Shoulder, Lean

on Barb".

When my dad was a young associate at the

firm, he would go to the Court of Appeals

dinner, in truth, to make sure his senior

partner, Tom Tracy, got home safely. My mom

was none too thrilled to be left alone with

three kids in diapers while my dad donned his

tux for a night out. But later, and for so

many years, my dad was my date to our annual

Court of Appeals dinner, and my mom would be

so happy to take a picture of us, the series

of photos through the years that I treasure.

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He was always a member of the New York

State Bar Association and served in the House

of Delegates. He was admitted to the United

States Supreme Court. He served on the Inns

of Court, sharing his passion for law,

learning, and professional excellence. He

encouraged me to join the same, and I followed

his advice and footsteps, as I did in many

things.

In the 1970s when the no-fault law changed

the automobile negligence landscape, his

partner, Frank Warner, called it the "wailing

and gnashing of teeth". My dad became an

expert and shared his expertise by lending his

time to train other lawyers on this major

change in the law.

He provided opportunities freely and

delighted in the success of others. When I

was an associate at his firm, he gave me a

case that ultimately went to the Court of

Appeals, Young v. Wyman. I lost but felt

vindicated because Judge Kaye agreed with me

in her dissent. I was so fortunate to have

had the experience of arguing in the Court of

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Appeals, owing all to my dad.

After retiring he became a hearing officer

with the Civil Appeals Settlement Program for

the appellate division, and was an arbitrator/

mediator for several years until his

retirement.

My dad had a green thumb and loved

gardening. When the firm moved to New Karner

Road, he planted flowers outside the door.

One day a patron asked how to get to the firm,

and my dad told him where it was. When he got

to the receptionist, he remarked at how nice

the gardener was. And she said, "Oh, that's

our senior partner."

In his professional and personal life my

dad was a gentle man and a gentleman. He was

soft-spoken and patient, traits that,

obviously, I did not inherit. I can tell you

that he never got mad or raised his voice. He

never uttered a bad or angry word and never,

ever spoke unkindly of anyone. Never. He was

constantly cheerful, agreeable, humble, always

thinking of others, and led by example. As

the song says, "My life has been a poor

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attempt to imitate the man."

My dad was the epitome of what anyone

would think of as a great lawyer. He was an

empathic listener, a learned colleague, a

trusted advisor, a generous mentor, a zealous

and effective advocate. He knew that he who

yelled the loudest was not the most right.

His success was found in his knowledge of

the law and the merits of his argument and,

just as important, with the strength of the

relationships he forged. His stellar

representation paved the way for me, and many

judges and lawyers welcomed me so warmly

because I was my father's daughter.

After today we can all honor my dad,

Attorneys Kenneally, Barber, Sommers, and

DeGraff, and the legal profession by

continuing what was best in them: practice law

with dignity and civility; mentor and help a

young lawyer; promote professionalism,

courtesy, and respect for the law, the

lawyers, the litigants, the court staff, and

others; serve your community; work hard; be

kind; and drive a little slower.

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Thank you for allowing me to share a few

thoughts about my dad and for coming today to

pay your respects to my dad and his

distinguished colleagues. With their passing,

they broke the mold. They showed us the way,

and we honor their memory. We are lesser for

their loss, and we will miss them all.


Betsy.

John T. DeGraff, Jr., will be eulogized by

his partner Bob Iseman.

BOB ISEMAN, ESQ.: Judge Walsh, members of

the judiciary, and with the Court's

permission.

I am just so pleased and honored to be

here to participate in this service and, in

particular, to celebrate the life and the

legal career of my long-time law partner and

friend and mentor, John T. DeGraff, Jr.

John left a truly remarkable legacy as a

son and as a brother, as a husband and as a

father, as a grandfather and as a

great-grandfather, as a friend to so many who

were always touched by his infectious laugh

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JOHN T. DEGRAFF, JR. - Eulogized by Bob Iseman 33

and the joy with which he practiced law. He

left a legacy as a naval officer for a number

of years. He left a legacy as a very skillful

trial and appellate advocate who just loved to

represent clients in their time of need.

I became a young associate at the DeGraff,

Foy, Conway, Holt-Harris law firm in 1975.

I'd like to take a few minutes to share some

of my memories of John. Before that I have to

tell you that it was really while I was still

in law school that I became aware of John's

talents as one of the preeminent lawyers in

our community.

We were trying to get ready for the Bar

exam. This was May of 1973, a long time ago.

The entire legal community, at least those who

were mainly interested in personal injury

actions, were interested in what was going to

be done by the Court of Appeals with the case

of Codling v. Paglia.

I became aware that John DeGraff, Jr.,

represented the plaintiff, Marcia Codling.

And this case presented the question of

whether or not the State of New York was going

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to adopt the principles of strict product

liability as, I believe, had been adopted in

California. But everyone was kind of waiting

to see what the Court of Appeals would say on

the topic. I became aware on May 3rd of 1973

that the Court of Appeals had adopted the

principles of strict product liability, which

was a really big deal.

I can remember, in John's office, seeing a

telegram that his father, John T. DeGraff,

Sr., who was also in his own right one of the

preeminent lawyers in this area, especially in

the field on the appeals, wrote to John while

John was traveling someplace in Europe, I

believe, probably looking for the local

courthouse to see how justice was administered

in another country. And the telegram said

"Codling v. Paglia affirmed in historic Court

of Appeals landmark decision."

And when I saw that telegram I realized

one thing that was, I thought, very, very

important, and that is that a man like John T.

DeGraff, Sr., his father, really cast a long

shadow as a preeminent lawyer in the State of

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New York, and that John, by achieving this

success in the case of Codling v. Paglia, had

really demonstrated that he had achieved his

own success, that he was out from under the

shadow of his father, and throughout his

career thereafter continued to get wonderful

results for his clients before the trial

courts and the appellate courts that

demonstrated the quality of his advocacy.

But the thing I really want to emphasize

the most about John, what I observed about him

as a young lawyer at the DeGraff Foy law firm,

was that he loved to be a lawyer. He loved

representing clients. He regarded his

relationship with clients as a sacred trust,

and he imbued all of us in that law firm with

that thought and that reality.

"What a privilege it is," John would say,

"to be able to be a part of this profession.

What fun it is." He was a joyful advocate.

He just loved what he did. He loved

collaborating with the young lawyers in the

office, and I was so privileged to have

benefited from his mentorship in that regard.

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He kept, as many lawyers do, but for John

it had a special significance -- he kept a

statue of the blindfolded Lady of Justice in

his office. And if you mentioned anything

about that, or even if you didn't, John would

engage you in a conversation about the

administration of justice and what needed to

be done better and what happened in other

countries and how other countries administered

justice. He had great intellectual curiosity,

and he was constantly looking and asking about

how things worked and how things could be

improved for the justice system.

One of the funny things I remember, again,

as a young associate sitting in his office --

and I noticed that next to the Lady of Justice

was a jar. It looked like a candy jar.

I said, "John, what kind of candy do you

have in there? It looks like mints."

He said, "Bob, those are TUMS." And he

kind of laughed. He had a wonderful,

infectious laugh. And he said, "Sometimes the

administration of justice gives you a little

bit of heartburn."

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I remember as well a poem that one of his

daughters wrote that was on the wall of his

office that talked about what it meant to

represent a client in a time of need before a

Court in a trial setting and atmosphere and

just how much he loved to do that. He loved

other lawyers. He loved socializing with

other lawyers. He loved talking about other

lawyers. He loved everything about the law.

He taught me and others in our law firm

many important lessons. He was just so

prepared for all of the cases that he tried.

He would prepare and prepare and prepare. Of

course, this is before the days when -- we

weren't keeping, really, time records in those

days. This is the days back in the late '70s

and early '80s, a lot more fun. You didn't

have the rules from big clients who said, "We

are not going to pay for interoffice

conferences." So were constantly preparing

and preparing.

John would take a red pencil and he would

draw a key, and then in that file he would put

all the documents that he thought were the key

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to the case. It was always in that same red

pencil. We'd talk all afternoon. He'd come

back the morning and he would want to talk

some more about what the keys were to the

case. It was so much fun doing that. We

would laugh. He had such an infectious laugh.

He just loved to laugh, and he had such joy in

what he was doing in being an advocate.

He also taught me how important it was to

have courage. He was a man of great courage

in the courtroom. He used to say, "Bob, no

guts, no glory," and what it meant to not only

represent clients but to be willing to stand

and take a verdict, which we all know requires

a lot of courage.

He taught me, as part of the fun of

practicing law, very memorable for me -- very

memorable rituals. He would always say before

we started a case -- the day before the case

was to start we would always go down to Jack's

and we would have lunch at Jack's, and we

would have the same thing. We would have a

dozen littleneck clams, not two dozen, not a

half a dozen. You had to have a dozen

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littleneck clams and one glass of beer. Those

days occasionally we, believe it or not, had a

drink at lunchtime. Then we would have some

of those salty caraway seed rolls that Jack's

used to have that were so good. That was like

our pregame meal. Like a football team having

a pregame meal, that was our pregame meal.

The next day when the trial was going to

start we would go down and get our shoes

shined. John would say, "We got to get our

shoes shined, and you got to leave a big tip."

He thought, I think, maybe there was karma

that would be developed like that by those

various rituals.

He taught me wonderful lessons in the

practice of law that I saw demonstrated in two

very memorable ways, and I will just close

with these two quick war stories.

He always said, "Bob, experts are experts

for a reason. They are experts because they

probably know more than you know. And when

you cross-examine an expert, make sure that

you don't take that expert on in his or her

field of expertise, because they are experts.

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And don't be the smartest guy in the

courtroom. You got to be careful with expert

witnesses."

He used to love to lay traps for his

adversary. So we were trying to face the

Court, Harold Soden, Schenectady County

Supreme Court, years ago. The case involved

International Harvester and Ford. Ford

claimed that school bus bid specifications had

been rigged to make it impossible for Ford to

qualify because an alternator could not fit --

that was specified, could not fit on the

chassis produced by Ford.

So John found a national expert automotive

engineer. We loaded this expert up -- he did.

I didn't. I listened and I learned. This

expert became convinced that he could install

the alternator on the Ford chassis. So it

came time for the trial. John arranged

through International Harvester to have a Ford

chassis brought up outside the courtroom. No

one knew that. And he arranged to have an

alternator ready.

So the lawyer for Ford was cross-examining

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the expert, and the expert at some point in

time, due to John's coaching, said something

in words to the effect of "Mr. So-and-so, I

can prove to you that the alternator will

fit."

It was a little bit of a nonresponsive

comment by the expert, but for some reason the

lawyer -- it was an experienced lawyer, a very

fine trial lawyer -- took the bait. And it

resulted in the expert saying, "Mr. So-and-so,

I have got my tools and I've got my overalls

and I've got a Ford chassis parked in the

parking lot and I have got an alternator. We

will ask -- if you want me to, we can ask

Judge Soden to adjourn the case to the parking

lot, and I will install the alternator in the

Ford chassis."

So John kind of looked at me and I looked

at him. It was like the A-Team saying, "I

love it when a plan comes together." That was

perhaps the most effective way to teach me the

lesson of how to cross-examine an expert.

I will close with this other memory: John

and I were representing a deprogrammer down in

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Foley Square for about six weeks before Judge

Richard Owen in the Southern District. The

case involved the Unification Church and

whether they were entitled to a bona fide

religion status, which was at that time the

element for being protected under Civil Rights

laws.

The head of the Unification Church, Sun

Myung Moon was testifying up in the -- he was

a defendant in a tax evasion case up on the

second floor. So we got to subpoena Reverend

Moon and bring him down to the first floor.

John conducted an examination. He would

always say to me, "Bob, ask them things they

are not going to expect."

So this was a case where we asked

questions that no one was expecting, certainly

not Reverend Moon.

He said, "Have you ever seen Moses?"

And Reverend Moon says, "Yes. I see Moses

all the time."

"Do you talk to Moses?"

"Yes, I talk to Moses."

"And how do you know he is Moses?"

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Reverend Moon said, "Well, he told me he

was Moses."

So John said, "Have you ever seen the

Buddha?"

He said, "Yes. I see the Buddha all the

time."

"Do you talk to the Buddha?"

"Yes, I talk to the Buddha. The Buddha

tells me very mystical things."

"How do you know it's the Buddha?"

"Well, I recognize him from the statue in

the temple."

Then he says, "Reverend Moon, have you

ever spoken to Jesus Christ?"

Reverend Moon says, "Yes, I spoke to him.

I speak to him all the time. The first time

was on a hill in Korea in 1948, and many times

thereafter."

"How do you know, Reverend Moon, that the

person you are speaking to is Jesus Christ?"

He said, "Well, I recognize him from his

holy photograph."

So after John's examination of Reverend

Moon, the plaintiff in that action after six

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weeks of trial -- actually, more like four

weeks of trial if you take the subsequent

appellate procedures out -- moved to

discontinue the action.

I won't go on. I could go on at length

about this very interesting case. But I

learned from John, again, when you are

cross-examining, as we were because Reverend

Moon was an adverse party -- adverse

witness -- ask things that are unexpected.

And he truly did in that instance.

So I remember again, in conclusion, John's

joy, the honor that he regarded in

representing clients and being a member of

this bar, how he loved the judges, how he

loved his fellow lawyers, how he loved his

clients, how he loved the process. In this

time of Thanksgiving and the holiday season of

reflection, I give thanks for the privilege of

having been mentored by John T. DeGraff, Jr.,

and I give so much thanks for his friendship.


Bob.

I want to thank all of you for coming

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45

today, for all the family and friends and

supporters here at this particular event. As

you can tell, it's this signature event,

really, of the Albany County Bar Association

when we recognize those who have gone before

us, giants that they all were, lessons that

they all left behind.

I would like to thank the judiciary for

coming today. I would like to particularly

acknowledge my friend, my father's classmate

at Albany Law School, Judge Weiss, who it's

always good to see here, and I'd just like to

recognize him. (Applause.)

Thank you, all who did the eulogies. If

you have any written materials, Lesley will be

very happy to receive that as she will be

providing a transcript.

I ask the Court that we have a transcript

provided to the Albany County Bar Association

as well as the families of the lawyers if

eulogized.

HON. MARGARET T. WALSH: That request is

granted.

BARTLEY J. COSTELLO III, ESQ.: Thank you

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46

very much.

With that, I think we have a reception

downstairs. And I turn it back to Judge

Walsh.

HON. MARGARET T. WALSH: Yes. Thank you.

Please join us in the rotunda for the

reception. And we are now in recess.

(Whereupon, at 10:33 a.m., proceedings in

the above-entitled matter were concluded.)

* * *

daniel j. hurteau, esq....ergo the constant battle in albany police court. prior to joining the...

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