Top NYC legal guns defend Kathy Hochul’s court pick Hector LaSalle amid leftwing attacks

A group of prominent lawyers is arguing that Judge Hector LaSalle is overwhelmingly qualified to lead the state’s highest court, amid attacks from the political left that he is too conservative.

“Justice LaSalle has been found highly qualified for this critically important post, with the experience and temperament necessary to lead our state’s large and complex court system,” reads a public letter slated to be released this week.

“We trust that the [state] Senate will give Justice LaSalle a fair hearing — one that focuses on his strong qualifications, dedicated public service, and civic-mindedness, rather than recent mischaracterizations of his record,” reads the letter.

Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, ex-liberal New York City Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks are among the 64 lawyers from 19 prominent firms who signed onto the letter.

LaSalle has faced withering criticism from left-wing pols, labor unions and activists ever since Gov. Kathy Hochul named him last month to become the first Latino to ever lead the Court of Appeals.

His critics have pointed to a handful of cases where LaSalle joined decisions angering organized labor, abortion activists and criminal justice reforms, which supporters say have been taken out of context.

“The chief judge oversees the work of the state’s Unified Court System, and Justice LaSalle has a proven track record of ensuring the efficiency and fairness of the state’s largest Appellate Division,” reads the letter, which includes lawyers from firms such as Debevoise & Plimpton, Ropes & Gray and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Hochul has argued the LaSalle’s experience as presiding judge of the Appellate Division of the Second Judicial Department of the state Supreme Court in Brooklyn makes him particularly suitable to overhauling New York’s byzantine court system.

Fellow judges recently attested to how LaSalle managed to clear trail backlogs and cut administrative fat while overseeing hundreds of staffers in the busiest appellate division in the state.

But that will likely not be enough to change the minds of Democratic state senators who have signaled they are voting no on his nomination.

“Because I’ve had 14 members come out publicly and say they were not going to confirm the nominee, and I’ve had a number tell me privately they are not going to confirm the nominee, I do not see this ending in the way that the Governor wished it would,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told Gotham Gazette last week.

LaSalle needs at least 32 votes in the 63-member chamber to get confirmed, with 21 Republican members potentially providing the bulk of the majority needed by the governor.

But her court pick appears unlikely to get approved by the Judiciary Committee recently expanded to have more LaSalle opponents though Hochul argued Wednesday that the state Constitution required the full body to vote on his nomination.

“He’ll have his hearings; he’ll answer questions; and then as required by the Constitution, the full Senate must decide because the Constitution says it’s on the advice and consent of the Senate,” Hochul told reporters in the Bronx.

While the fight over LaSalle continues in Albany, the dozens of big-time lawyers speaking up for him are urging state senators to consider what he accomplished in Brooklyn.

“Justice LaSalle is a leader who has engendered respect and trust throughout his distinguished career precisely because he is even-handed in his rulings and treats every case on its merits,” the letter states.