A recent development regarding Child Victims Act
("CVA") litigation in New York City will have a
significant impact on how these cases are managed by the court and
help ensure that the backlog of cases proceed more expeditiously
going forward.
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Deborah Kaplan—who has
been overseeing all pretrial matters relating to CVA cases in the
five boroughs since the retirement of former Justice George J.
Silver in September 2021—held a conference last week with
members of the CVA Liaison Steering Committee to discuss the
management of the CVA cases. There had been many complaints about
the CVA case backlog, as well as concerns about having one Judge
manage such a heavy docket and questions as to why additional
judges could not be called on to assist. Since her selection in
September, Judge Kaplan had been fairly silent as to any
administrative changes, but after meeting first with the plaintiff
and defense CVA liaisons, the joint conference