Vilardo addresses Senate Judiciary Committee

The expected questions about legal concerns, peppered with some good-natured Buffalo jabs, were directed Wednesday at Buffalo attorney Lawrence J. Vilardo when he appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary for a hearing, webcast live from Washington, D.C.

Vilardo was one of four judicial candidates testifying. He is being considered for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

“I know I speak on behalf of all Americans for thanking Buffalo for the chicken wing,” Sen. Thom Tillis joked. “Football has never been the same.”

He asked Vilardo about his work representing numerous witnesses in False Claims Act investigations, defending whistleblowers, and how he would handle such actions brought before him on the federal bench.

“I will handle them the same way I handle all cases brought before me and that is fairly and impartially by applying the rule of law,” Vilardo answered.

Tillis also said Vilardo’s political history, supporting political candidates, might concern some litigants who would appear before him and asked what assurances he could give that, if confirmed, his decisions would be grounded in legal precedent and the test of law, rather than any political ideology.

Vilardo, noting his “precious little” political involvement, said he was proud to say he has support from both sides of the aisle in Western New York with Republican support as strong as that of his colleagues in the Democratic Party.

“Lifetime tenure means that you owe nothing to anyone and I would owe no debts,” Vilardo said. “I would follow the law, I would follow the rule of law, I would follow the precedent from controlling jurisdictions by which I am bound and apply the law as dispassionately as possible.”

Tillis, R-North Carolina, chaired the hearing on behalf of committee Chair Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, who submitted a statement for the record.

Vilardo was introduced by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who recommended him for the post last August.

“Mr. Vilardo is a true Buffalonian,” Schumer said. “You can tell just by talking to him and he’s going to be a credit to the bench in his home town.”

A native of Buffalo, Vilardo graduated summa cum laude from Canisius College and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, “a distinction he shares with our president,” Schumer said.

President Barack Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review in the early 1990s. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., also a Buffalo native and magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review when Vilardo worked on the publication in the late 1970s.

The affiliations prompted Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota to ask, tongue in cheek, who was the better editor, “President Obama or …”

“I’m kidding,” she laughed, quickly cutting herself off. “Don’t answer that.”

“I’ll provide you extra time Sen. Klobuchar,” Tillis bantered back.

Klobuchar asked Vilardo about his experience as a civil litigator and what he would bring to the federal bench, noting a lot of the cases are civil in nature.

“My experience actually is civil and criminal,” Vilardo said, adding that his experience as an advocate, arbitrator, mediator and law clerk to a federal judge position him well to do a good job as a district judge.

“I’m not going to bring up the Vikings-Bills game,” Klobuchar joked, referring to a tense December 1979 matchup in the Orchard Park snow. “I don’t know if you remember this when your fans threw snowballs at our players. They did hit Chuck Foreman in the eye. That’s OK; it was a long time ago.”

A quick search of the Web turned up a fairly recent article on TwinCities.com with former Vikings recalling being pelted with snowballs, eventually prompting Coach Bud Grant to order all players — except the defense which was on the field — to return to the locker room (http://bit.ly/1Psonx3).

“I apologize,” Vilardo said. “On behalf of the people of Western New York, I apologize.”

No action was taken. Tillis left the record open for one week for possible follow-up questions.

The hearing also included three other candidates for the U.S. District Court: New York County Supreme Court Justice Ann Donnelly and LaShann DeArcy Hall, both for the Eastern District of New York; and Dale Drozd, Eastern District of California.

“These nominees have been waiting for a long time,” Schumer said. “I’m thrilled that the committee is finally moving forward with their nominations. It’s important for them, but more important to the districts they serve, which need them desperately.”

Schumer noted those three are being considered for seats classified as judicial emergencies, which he said means those districts do not have enough judges on the bench to cover the cases before them.

While Schumer acknowledged the seat Vilardo is up for is not considered a judicial emergency, he said Buffalo is currently without an active federal judge. That is due to the elevations earlier this year of then-Chief Judge William M. Skretny and Richard J. Arcara to senior status.

“Buffalo has one of the busiest court systems in the country and also one of the worst backlogs of cases,” Schumer said. “It can take five years — five years — for a case to go to trial. Imagine how long you’d have to wait for justice. Western New York has a backlog of cases and a current dearth of judges. We need a candidate of Mr. Vilardo’s experience and quality to get approved by this body with due speed so this issue can be addressed.”

Vilardo’s experience also includes serving as a law clerk to the Hon. Irving L. Goldberg when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit in Dallas.

Schumer said Vilardo returned to Buffalo where he founded one of the leading law firms in the region: Connors & Vilardo LLP; served as an appellate mentor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and constitutional law faculty member at Canisius College; senior editor of the American Bar Association Litigation Journal; and is a frequent speaker on appellate justice and legal ethics and presenter at law programs and bar association seminars.

“Mr. Vilardo’s credentials are certainly excellent,” Schumer said, noting Vilardo is also moderate and respected by practitioners and judges across the political and ideological spectrum for his even temperament and fair minded way of thinking.

Accompanying Vilardo were several people from Buffalo, including colleagues from Connors & Vilardo, former Canisius College classmates and several family members including his wife Jeanne; daughter Dr. Brigid (Patrick) Vilardo Lyons, a child psychiatrist; daughter Lauren Vilardo, who is studying to become a doctor; son Alexander, who will be going to SUNY Buffalo Law School, starting this fall; and brothers, Mark, Dr. Joseph and Dr. Michael Vilardo.

A video of the hearing may be viewed at www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/nominations-2015-05-06.

If approved by the Judiciary Committee, Vilardo’s nomination will go before the full Senate which will decide whether or not to confirm him.

—[email protected]