Courts and Law

Pro Bono Barrister: Save the date (May 29) for Irwin Kosover event

May 19, 2014 By Charles F. Otey, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Thanks to the cooperation and leadership of Kings Administrative Justice Lawrence Knipel and Justice Donald Scott Kurtz, who heads the Court’s Civil Forum, the Kings JCP  will be the site on May 29 for a special moment of recognition for one of our finest trial lawyers — the late Irwin Kosover.

Irwin’s daughters, Carole and Amy, will be in Brooklyn to help honor their dad, as will a number of former justices, including retired Justice Joseph Levine (just about a lifelong friend of the inimitable Irwin, who left us last Labor Day at the age of 80) and retired Justice Gerard Rosenberg. Many other jurists, including Justices Mel Partnow and David Schmidt, intend to take part, as does trial lawyer Mark Longo.

The program that day will be “fluid and informal,” the way the honoree would have liked it, according to Steve Harkavy, who has played a major role in preparing the kind of recognition that is rare, but fitting, because Irwin, to this writer, and hundreds of other lawyers, epitomized the best of what the profession stands for.

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He was smart, gifted with a wry humor and treated all lawyers — and judges and court personnel — with respect.

Attorney Harkavy has been working with several lawyers on this, including Jon Fier, Roger Siegel, Larry Schiffman, Robert Mijuca, Scott Rynecki and this writer, to ensure an appropriate and meaningful observance in the very same courtroom in which Irwin’s patient voice still resounds for many of us.

Irwin Led Winning Battle for the “Summer Kosover”

Many of his colleagues will recall that barrister Irwin was the leading proponent, especially in the Kings Civil Forum, of setting a “date certain” in August, establishing a period during which there would be no jury selection or trials. It’s almost impossible to engage expert witnesses during these “dog days” and the long-reigning policy ruined lawyers’ family vacation plans with a disconcerting frequency.

Irwin was successful in this endeavor, winning the praise of hundreds of colleagues and, as a result, the summer hiatus was pronounced officially here in “Pro Bono” as the “Summer Kosover.”

I often referred here to the “Summer Kosover”  and, when I did,  Irwin would often approach me in the Lawyers Room with his hallmark wry grin and demand, “What are you trying to do to me, Otey … Get me in trouble?!”

It was only when Irwin left us last summer that I learned what he really thought about being the inspiration for the “Summer Kosover.” We’ll save that thought for next week’s column.

Meanwhile, the numerous friends of Irwin should know that they are all invited to attend at JCP at 1 p.m. on May 29. That also is a “date certain.”

 


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