Law firm boasts chief judge connection

Daily Point

Cravath, Swaine & Moore website cites ties to Rowan Wilson 

New York’s top judge Rowan D. Wilson is a man in the news, especially with this week’s New York State Court of Appeals redistricting decision, which carries far-reaching implications for both state and national politics. As chief judge of the state’s highest court since April, Wilson played a pivotal role in that controversial 4-3 decision.

One of the places to learn more about Judge Wilson is the website of his old law firm, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, that markets the firm by highlighting its ties to the chief judge. The firm’s website says Wilson is a retired partner and posts a telephone number for him that is the law firm’s main number. The Manhattan-based firm also lists Wilson’s credentials, his practice area when he was a partner, a handy downloadable VCard, and a running tab of Cravath news items about Wilson while he’s been on the bench, including his April 2023 confirmation as chief judge.

But ethics experts told The Point that the Cravath website advertising their connection to New York’s top judge is questionable. “My instinct is that this is not a good look for the judge or for the firm,” said Professor James Sample, a judicial ethics expert at Hofstra University’s School of Law. “I’ve not encountered this [situation] before.” The state’s rules for judicial conduct, Sample said, makes it “a fair question” to ask about Cravath’s touting of the judge.

According to the state rules: “A judge shall not lend the prestige of the office to advance the private interests of the judge or others; nor shall a judge convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge.”

When asked by The Point, New York’s top judge said he had no idea his venerable old-time law firm had a page on their website devoted to him. Wilson disavowed any involvement with Cravath since joining the bench.

“I have and will continue to recuse myself from any matter in which Cravath is involved, so there is no possibility of anyone influencing me through the firm,” Wilson told The Point in an email reply to an question about his mention on the Cravath website. “I was unaware that the firm lists a phone number for me; I have no access to it. My 30 years at Cravath appear publicly everywhere, and I don’t think I have any right to tell Cravath or Wikipedia not to mention it.”

On the Cravath website, the law firm summarizes the work Wilson has done in the past for his old firm. “Judge Wilson’s practice encompassed complex litigation, including antitrust and competition, intellectual property, contract, securities fraud, entertainment and media, and civil rights and employment matters,” says the Cravath website.

The Point contacted Cravath several times Wednesday for a reply without a response. The Point also asked the state’s top ethics overseer of all judges about the Cravath-Wilson website matter, but Robert Tembeckjian, administrator and counsel for the Commission on Judicial Conduct, declined to comment.

Wilson joined the Cravath firm as an associate in 1986 and became a partner in 1991, according his biography on the New York State Courts website. Wilson worked at Cravath until 2017 when he joined the Court of Appeals as an associate judge and ascending to the chief judge’s job in April.

— Thomas Maier thomas.maier@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Better watch out

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Data Point

LI restaurant staffing makes a comeback

Long Island’s restaurant sector — the Island's second-largest private sector employer — is staffing at pre-pandemic levels. An average of 48,580 people were employed every month in the second quarter of 2023, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week. That is near 2019’s level of 48,980 people per month and a 150% increase since 2020’s low of 19,490.

The employment and wages data refers to people employed on a full-time or part-time basis by “full-service” restaurants, cafes or bars, as well as nontheatrical event spaces that serve food and alcohol, and where customers generally pay after meals. It does not include fast-food chains, the corner deli, food trucks or catering establishments. Since employment numbers are influenced by seasons, this year’s second-quarter data is compared with those from the second quarters of previous years.

Nassau County’s restaurant industry appears to be doing better than it ever has in the last five years. The number of registered establishments was at 1,379 in the second quarter, up from 1,355 in 2019. An average of about 23,270 people were employed per month during the same period, compared with 22,974 in 2022 and 20,186 in 2021.

In Suffolk County, the sector shows more stability.  An average of 25,309 people were employed every month in restaurants in the county during the second quarter of 2023, about the same as in 2022 when 25,380 were employed. As of June 30, there were 1,322 registered establishments in Suffolk, similar to 2022, slightly short of 1,340 establishments in 2019.

A state report published in September focusing on tourism found that the food and beverage industry on Long Island brought in nearly $2.4 billion in tourism revenue alone, a large chunk of the region’s $6.3 billion tourism industry. The sector is also projected to employ 100,000 people by 2028, according to New York’s 2021 Department of Labor report.

Across Long Island, annual wages per restaurant employee have jumped about 24% since 2019, from about $28,500 per year to an average of $35,300 in 2022. The average pay was generally higher in Suffolk than in Nassau.

— Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

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