Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the appointment of David B. Goldin as the City’s first Administrative Justice Coordinator.  The Administrative Justice Coordinator will work with City agencies to enhance the professionalism, efficiency and accountability of tribunals presided over by administrative law judges and hearing officers.  The Coordinator will also work with the City’s Chief Administrative Law Judge to publish and implement a code of ethics for administrative law judges and hearing officers, as required by the charter amendment adopted by the City’s voters in November 2005.  Mayor Bloomberg created the position of Coordinator by Executive Order 84, fulfilling a pledge he made in his State of the City speech. 

“The appointment of an Administrative Justice Coordinator is a much needed step towards strengthening the City’s administrative judicial system,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “David Goldin is a talented individual with a sharp legal mind who has dedicated the vast majority of his career to public service. He will be an asset to ensuring that the City’s tribunals – the place where New Yorkers go to challenge fines, parking tickets or building code violations – are not only efficient, but serve the people of New York with the highest integrity. The administration of justice should be fair and transparent, and I know that David will ensure that the law is applied fairly and equally as Administrative Justice Coordinator.”

“I am honored by the opportunity to serve the City in this position,” said Coordinator Goldin.  “The City’s administrative tribunals are often the only forums where citizens have any significant interaction with City government.  Commitment to justice requires that all New Yorkers who appear before a tribunal be treated fairly, impartially and consistently.  I look forward to helping ensure that the City’s tribunals provide the quality of justice New Yorkers expect and deserve.”

“The appointment of an Administrative Justice Coordinator is the culmination of three years of study by the Mayor’s Office and two Charter Revision Commissions,” said Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs Carol A. Robles-Román.  “We hope that this new approach to meeting the needs of our tribunals and the citizens they serve will be a national model for reform across the country.”

The Administrative Justice Coordinator is charged with the development and implementation of consistent standards to enhance the professionalism, efficiency, transparency, and accountability across the City’s administrative tribunals by coordinating common policies and operations, while leaving the day-to-day decision making on individual cases to the administrative law judges (ALJs) and hearing officers.

The tribunals to be coordinated include those within the following agencies: Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), Department of Consumer Affairs, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Environmental Control Board, Tax Commission, Tax Appeals Tribunal, Parking Violations Bureau, Taxi and Limousine Commission, Board of Standards and Appeals, Loft Board, Civil Service Commission, Police Department, Department of Education, and the New York City Housing Authority.

The Administrative Justice Coordinator also will develop programs to promote alternative dispute resolution, deploy new case management technologies, enhance the public’s understanding and ability to access justice, and implement new ALJ and hearing officer recruitment and retention strategies, including training programs to be offered at the newly created Citywide Administrative Judicial Training Institute, housed at OATH.  In addition, the Administrative Justice Coordinator will work closely with the City’s Chief Administrative Law Judge to develop a new code of ethics to guide ALJs and hearing officers.  The development of this new code was proposed by the Charter Revision Commission and adopted by the City’s voters in the November 2005 referendum.  It is expected to be finalized later this year.

Coordinator Goldin most recently served as Chief Litigating Deputy County Attorney in the Office of the Nassau County Attorney.  Before that, he was counsel to the former New York City Board of Education, where he participated in oversight of the Office of Impartial Hearings.  He has also worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department, representing many of the agencies with which he will now be working as Administrative Justice Coordinator.  A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Coordinator Goldin is a native New Yorker who grew up in Manhattan. He now lives in Brooklyn with his wife Jill Clayton, also a lawyer, and children Nick and Abby.