Q&A with Judge Maurice E. Muir
SENIOR
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | SEPT. 18-SEPT. 25, 2020 9
BY DEAN MOSES
Schneps Media is sitting down with judges across
the city’s court systems to discuss their roles and how
they’ve changed in the age of COVID-19. This week’s
interview is with the Hon. Maurice E. Muir, Supreme
Court Justice and Civil Court Judge in Queens County.
Schneps Media: Could you describe your duties
as a judge?
Hon. Maurice E. Muir: As a Supreme Court
judge, we are essentially rendering decisions in connection
with various matters, which could include
personal injury, contracts, mortgage foreclosures
and so forth.
SM: Are there any misconceptions people have
about judges you would like to clear up?
MM: It’s just human nature — people are going to
have their own opinions. I really try to focus on getting
the decision right; that’s what is really important
to me. That’s what a judge should really be doing:
trying to get that decision right. For some reason or
another, if the parties are not in agreement with the
decision, they have the right to appeal. Judges are human
beings like everyone else.
SM: How has the position/proceedings
changed during the pandemic?
MM: Right now, we are not doing jury trials or
trials. A lot of our decisions happen to be done in
writing and there are still motions that have to be
resolved. The motions are being done electronically.
We print out from the e-file system and render a decision.
There are certain cases where we would have
to speak to the parties virtually. Judges now have to
become more sophisticated with technology. Whether
it is through Skype Business or Microsoft Teams, we
get the parties together to discuss the cases.
SM: Have the technical advancements been an
upgrade for the court system?
MM: I don’t necessarily agree with that. When you
look at technology on a broad scale, it really means
that there is less personalization. It also means that
there are people losing their jobs. If a judge doesn’t
have the benefit of seeing a person, assessing their
credibility, whether they are parties or attorneys,
then I think there are disadvantages along with the
technological advantages.
Also, I have to spend a little more time organizing
things. You have to organize Skype meetings for the
virtual case conferences. We had some time to catch
up on motions since we are not doing trials and not
spending inordinate amount of time speaking with
attorneys personally. In the beginning, we had a
chance during the pandemic closure (March, April,
May, and the beginning to June) when motions were
completely stopped, so it gave us time to catch up on
the ones we already had.
SM: What does a motion entail?
MM: A motion is where a party is seeking some
sort of relief. Typically, the relief they are seeking is
that they want a summary judgement motion (a ruling
on whether or not there is a need for a trial), a
motion for default judgment (where one of the parties
failed to appear), or a motion for discovery (another
party is not giving them what they are entitled to by
law).
SM: What are some of the most common problems
you deal with at work?
MM: Initially, the problem since the pandemic was
that you had to make sure you have your own laptop,
desktop or printer, so you could do your decisions by
e-file. Then again you have to organize things much
more, track cases more electronically.
Another problem is that some of the Pro Se parties
(people representing themselves) need technology so
that they can participate in the litigation. If they don’t
have access to Skype or the electronically filed documents,
I would envision that is a problem for them.
The courts have to be flexible and make adjustments.
SM: Is there a silver lining that you can find
from the pandemic?
MM: I think that technology is really a doubleedged
sword. It has it has pros and cons. Nothing is
perfect.
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