As the Asbestos Case Tracker previously reported here, former NYCAL Coordinating Judge Manuel Mendez was appointed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department, in July 2020. With Judge Mendez assuming his new role in the First Department, Judge Adam Silvera was announced as the new NYCAL coordinating judge.
Silvera obtained his undergraduate degree in 1994 from the City University of New York and received his juris doctor from Brooklyn Law School in 2001. Prior to becoming a judge, he worked for Paul B. Weitz & Associates as a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney. He was elected to the Civil Court in 2013 and elected to the Supreme Court in 2017. Since serving on the bench, he has handled family court matters, matrimonial, commercial landlord/tenant cases, and automobile accident cases.
In the first few months of his tenure as coordinating judge, Silvera has actively been involved in litigation. He has continued the same pace and schedule that Mendez instituted. Regular settlement conferences have been held and, in light of COVID-19, Silvera stated in a recent Town Hall meeting with plaintiffs and defendants that he intends to keep advancing cases toward trial with the hope of starting trials in spring 2021. We anticipate he will continue to develop and progress the active NYCAL docket in light of the current circumstances.