News & Events

Simpson Thacher corporate partner Alan Klein presented the 2008 Citizen’s Budget Commission Prize for Public Service Innovation to Chief Judge Judith Kaye of the New York Court of Appeals at the CBC's 76th Annual Awards Dinner on Monday, May 5, 2008.  Mr. Klein, a Trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, and Co-Chair of CBC's Innovation Committee, presented the award together with his co-chair, Walter Harris, to the New York State Unified Court System for its New York Jury System Improvement Project.
 
Judge Kaye expanded the share of the population serving as jurors by implementing better selection procedures and lessening the burden of service by requiring fewer days of service in order to improve the selection and use of jurors. The resulting reforms included technological innovation, capital upgrades, legislative changes, comprehensive personnel training, and a cultural overhaul for the entire court bureaucracy. As a result, the Jury System Improvement Project has now put New York in a leadership position among state courts nationally.
 
Founded in 1932, the Citizens Budget Commission is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic organization devoted to influencing constructive change in the finances and services of New York State and New York City governments. Simpson Thacher has had a representative as a Trustee for many years.