New York, NY - The Board of Directors of the Fund for Modern Courts and Committee for Modern Courts, non-profit organizations dedicated to judicial reform in New York State, announced that Victor A. Kovner was elected Chair of the Board of both organizations, succeeding Fern Schair, who has been Chair since 2002.

In addition to Mr. Kovner's election, the Executive Committee of the Fund for Modern Courts and the Committee for Modern Courts announced that Milton I. Williams, Jr. was elected Chair of the Executive Committee of both organizations, succeeding Mr. Kovner in those positions.

Mr. Kovner is a partner with Davis, Wright, Tremaine, LLP, specializing in Communications Law and Civil Litigation, and was Corporation Counsel of the City of New York in 1990 and 1991. His public service also includes several terms as a member of the New York City Mayor's Committee on the Judiciary, a member and later Chair of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and a member of the New York State Commission on Public Access. In 2001 he was presented with Modern Courts prestigious John J. McCloy Memorial Award which recognizes lawyers who have made outstanding contributions to improving the administration of justice in New York State.  

Mr. Kovner, who has been active with the Modern Courts for more than three decades and has been Chair of Modern Courts Executive Committee since 2002 said, "I look forward to the challenge of strengthening the independence of our court system, making it more accessible, fair and efficient for our evermore diverse population. In light of the recent federal court ruling declaring unconstitutional our judicial convention system for selecting Supreme Court judges, our immediate efforts must be focused on ensuring that New York modifies its procedures for judicial selection to assure the public that the most qualified candidates reach the bench."   

Ms. Schair, who has been active with Modern Courts for decades, said that, "Victor Kovner is uniquely qualified to lead Modern Courts in these times of significant changes in the judicial landscape."  

Mr. Williams is Associate General Counsel/Litigation Counsel at Time Inc., and has overall responsibility for litigating intellectual property, employment, commercial, libel matters, and conducting internal investigations. He has been a member of the Board of Modern courts since 2001 and has been on the Executive Committee since June 2003. He also is a Vice Chair of the Modern Courts Board. His public service includes work as an Assistant United States Attorney at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office. In addition, as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), he created the Corporate Law and Media programs within the Career Program and the Basketball Tournament within the College Preparation Program.

Mr. Williams said, "The opportunity for significant judicial reform, especially in the area of judicial selection, is greater now than it has been for years. I would like to see Modern Courts at the forefront of that effort."  

Founded in 1955, Modern Courts is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide organization dedicated to improving the courts in New York State through advocacy, public education and in-court programming.