Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo
On Thursday, May 1, 2025, over 750 judges and lawyers attended the Federal Bar Council’s Annual Law Day Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street. At the dinner, the Federal Bar Council presented the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence to Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Following a delightful cocktail hour, the dinner began with welcome remarks from Anirudh Bansal, a partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP and chair of the Law Day Dinner. Bansal spoke about the evening’s honoree, Judge Sullivan, with whom Bansal had previously served at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Bansal humorously explained that while Judge Hand and Judge Sullivan’s personalities were not very much alike (noting that Judge Hand was “notoriously dour” while Judge Sullivan is “witheringly funny with perfect comedic timing”), the two shared common “approaches to the job of being a judge.” Bansal praised both judges’ extraordinary work, as each exemplify the same “uncompromising exactitude, intellectual rigor, and a commitment to always doing the right thing, not the easy thing.”
Bansal observed that “from the most weighty decisions, to the most routine, Judge Sullivan gives his all, all the time.” Bansal noted that Judge Sullivan had been compared by attorney Neil Barofsky, a partner at Jenner & Block, “to the great Joe DiMaggio, who according to baseball lore, dove into the stands after a foul ball in the ninth inning of a game the Yankees were winning by 10 runs.” Bansal recounted that after that game, a reporter asked DiMaggio, “Why would you put in that kind of effort in a game that meant so little?” DiMaggio answered: “Because someone out there may never have seen me play.” That, Bansal stated, “is how Judge Sullivan approaches everything.”
Following Bansal’s remarks, Judge Sanket J. Bulsara, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York (see profile of Judge Bulsara by Travis J. Mock later in this issue), read the very first Presidential Law Day Proclamation, issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. Judge Bulsara, who had previously served as a federal magistrate judge, noted that he was “honored to have been asked – as a representative of all of [his] fellow judges – to honor their public service, by reading the very first Presidential Law Day Proclamation, which reminds us of the principles and commitments that we gather together to celebrate.”
Federal Bar Council President Shawn Patrick Regan then presented Judge Sullivan with the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence – along with the Emory Buckner Award, the Federal Bar Council’s most prestigious award. Regan stated that the list of recipients of the award “is a pantheon of our legal system,” and that Judge Sullivan “only enhances the medal’s reputational luster.” Regan noted that Judge Sullivan had been one of the rare district court judges who had become a feeder judge for clerkships on the U.S. Supreme Court. Regan explained that Judge Sullivan’s “opinions reflect an analytical rigor, economy, precision and practical clarity that are, well, Learned Hand-like.”
In addition to his praise for Judge Sullivan, Regan emphasized the importance of Law Day. Regan pointed to “two lodestars” for the occasion: “First, that President Eisenhower proclaimed the first Law Day in response to the Soviet Union’s May Day, to highlight that we are a nation governed by laws, not men.” Second, that, when we look to our nation’s founding: “The fact that a judge could be removed by the King was among the first grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence.” Regan quoted Chief Justice John Roberts by saying that, “There is no place for violence or threats directed at judges for doing their job” – a statement that is rooted in “Section 115 of the Federal Criminal Code.”
Regan also discussed his gratitude “to those lawyers and firms who generously support the Federal Bar Foundation” and commended the leadership of Seth Levine. Regan said that “through your generous support, each summer, at courthouses throughout the circuit, teams of judges and lawyers educate students about civics, the cornerstone for the rule of law, through the Justice For All: Courts & Community Initiative and our Judge Robert M. Katzmann Civics Education Grant.” The Federal Bar Foundation also funds and supports the Summer Teacher’s Institute, as well as scores of Law Week and Justice Resource Center activities. Further, the Federal Bar Council has “long been at the forefront of judicial security efforts.” Regan observed that with Judge Sullivan as this circuit’s representative on the Judicial Security Committee of the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Federal Bar Council helped drive passage of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act in 2022.
Regan next quoted Judge Sullivan at his Senate confirmation hearing for his appointment to the Second Circuit, where Judge Sullivan explained that the humanity of the court “is palpable – you see litigants, you see lawyers, you see families, you see defendants in criminal cases, you see people and human beings who are affected by the decisions that judges make.” Regan reiterated Judge Sullivan’s sworn testimony because “it is vitally important that judges at all levels remember the impact [] that their decisions can have on people, and not always the people who are the named parties, but other people as well.” Regan concluded his remarks by saying that, “quite simply, there is no judge, no legal mind, no American, no person, better for us to honor at this moment in time, than Judge Richard J. Sullivan.”
After being presented with the Learned Hand Medal, Judge Sullivan used a Powerpoint presentation to highlight his remarks. True to Bansal’s attestation to the judge’s perfect comedic timing, Judge Sullivan hilariously (and modestly) expounded upon why he was not worthy of the prestigious award. Judge Sullivan’s jokes repeatedly evoked roars of laughter from the audience.
Judge Sullivan then turned to the more serious aspects of his speech, which were rooted in a quotation that appears above the entrance to the state courthouse in Foley Square: “The True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government.” That quotation from George Washington to his first attorney general, Edmund Randolph, “really struck home” with Judge Sullivan when he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. At that time, Judge Sullivan headed the International Narcotics Trafficking Unit, which was charged with investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and ultimately dismantling the most powerful criminal organizations in the world. These organizations were “so powerful that they could undermine entire governments and bend the institutions of justice to their will.” Judge Sullivan recounted efforts made against these global drug cartels and said that, “notwithstanding decades of violence directed against judges and prosecutors in their own countries, those kingpins never even attempted such violence here,” as they understood the strength of our institutions of justice.
Judge Sullivan said that the same institutions of justice remain strong today, as they are “still incorruptible” and “still impervious to intimidation.” But he added that, as chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Security, he has come to realize that our institutions of justice may be more fragile than we realize. As Judge Sullivan explained, these institutions “still need to be protected” and “we have to be vigilant in fostering them, and we have to remind our fellow citizens of the crucial role they play in our system of government.” Judge Sullivan emphasized that “this is not a new phenomenon,” as “sadly, judges and courthouses are more vulnerable than we sometimes realize.” Judge Sullivan then recounted the tragic history of recent courthouse and judge-related violence, including the federal judges and their family members who were killed simply because of the judges’ roles as constitutional officers. Judge Sullivan added that the U.S. Marshals Service has reported that, unfortunately, threats to judges have quadrupled over the last decade.
Judge Sullivan, however, expressed some optimism moving forward. He noted that the judicial branch and its partners in the executive and legislative branches “have endeavored to make judges and courthouses safer.” He pointed to Congress passing the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which restricts federal and private websites from posting personal identifying information of federal judges and their families, and New York State passing the Judicial Security Act, which extends certain personally identifiable information (PII) protections to federal and state judges in New York state. The judiciary also created a new Threat Management Branch at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to work with judges in reducing their internet footprints and overall exposure to threats. Thus far, nearly 80 percent of federal judges at every level – circuit, district, magistrate, and bankruptcy – have enrolled in this program, and over 8 million pieces of judges’ PII have been removed from public access. Judge Sullivan described other efforts to increase security among judges, both at their homes and at courthouses.
Judge Sullivan acknowledged that “[t]he security of our institutions of justice is going to require the good faith efforts of everyone, across the branches of government and throughout society. I’m confident that we will rise to the occasion, as we always have. But we need to be serious about it. And we need to remember those men and women have sacrificed everything for an independent judiciary, to ensure that the ‘true administration of justice’ continues to be a reality in our country, and a beacon for other countries around the world.” He then accepted the Learned Hand Medal “in the name of those men and women who have sacrificed so much.”
After accepting the award, Judge Sullivan thanked his family, his court family, his courthouse family, and his chambers family. Judge Sullivan made a special point to mention courthouse staff-member William Reynoso: “If you come by the Moynihan Courthouse late at night, you’ll see William Reynoso cleaning the floors – meticulously. William has worked at the courthouse for 27 years. He’s one of the FedCap workers who maintains our building. William is deaf, so unless you know American sign language, you might have difficulty communicating with him. But if you watch him work, what will be clearly communicated is his commitment to excellence and his deep identification with our branch. He recognizes that our buildings are cathedrals of justice, and he understands that his work truly enhances the mission of our branch. And he is right. Everyone who walks into our courthouses notices that, even if they don’t always stop to consider why. I am always inspired by William, and proud that we are part of the same branch of government.”
Judge Sullivan ended his inspiring remarks by thanking the Federal Bar Council and its lawyers. He stated:
We have an obligation to leave our institutions of justice stronger than we found them. That is a tall order. But it’s one worthy of our efforts. America’s success depends on the preservation of those institutions. And who better than lawyers to lead the way. Lawyers understand, by training and experience, the importance of argument. They understand the need to listen and to persuade. They understand the importance of principle, while at the same time recognizing the relevance of practical judgment and even compromise. They understand that an adversary is not an enemy, but rather a member of the bar who is worthy of respect, courtesy, and even affection. They recognize that it is possible to engage and argue with an adversary that you still can call your friend.
That is the best of the legal profession, and the best of America. The Federal Bar Council has long promoted those values, in the profession and in the larger culture. That’s why Law Day is such a worthy celebration, and why the Federal Bar Council is such an important institution. I am proud to be a part of it. And I look forward to working with each of you, and the Federal Bar Council, to ensure that our institutions of justice remain the envy of the world.
Thank you so much. Good night and God bless.
The Law Day 2025 Dinner was a truly wonderful evening for the bench and the bar.