Spirited Send-Off For 20-Year Judge

Attorneys, court staff, police officials, friends and family gathered to celebrate
East Hampton Justice Catherine A. Cahill's 20 years of honorable service at a retirement party on Sunday, about a month before she hangs up her robe.

"Now let's be honest, all of you lawyers are here to be sure I am giving the gavel over to Steve — Don't gild the lily," Cahill said, referring to her successor, Justice-elect Steven Tekulsky.

Cahill, who announced in April that she would not seek another term in office, was the first woman ever elected to the town position.

The party, organized by Jennifer Anderson, Cahill's court clerk, and Betsy Martin, the court director, was held at Michael's of Maidstone in Springs. Guests chipped in for a gift: A necklace with a hanging gavel to replace the one she is retiring.

Justice Lisa R. Rana has served with Cahill for the past 10 years, and will take over as the senior judge. "It just does not seem possible that that much time has gone. I only hope I will be half as helpful to Judge Tekulsky as Judge Cahill was to me," she told the crowd.

Despite working separately, they often looked to each other for support. "We were thrilled with the successes and often heartbroken when the successes weren't there," Rana said.

"No one was more blessed than I to have the ear of Judge Cahill, with whom I was able to share this incredible journey. Over the past 10 years, we have stood shoulder to shoulder as we have navigated graduations of children, and nieces and nephews, personal celebrations and accomplishments, and sadly, death and sickness," Rana said. "Through it all, Judge Cahill has become my close, personal friend. Sad as I am to see her move on to the next phase of her life, there is one small consolation for me. Now that we won't be flipping between weeks on and weeks off, we actually may be able to spend some more time together."

Cahill was visibly moved when summarizing the last two decades in the position — a time in which she also raised two children and lost her husband, Marvin Hyman, who was also an attorney.

Amongst those who came to celebrate her tenure were those she worked with during her five years at the Suffolk County District Attorney's office before becoming a justice, mentored by now retired Justice James Ketcham. "That's the nicest thing you ever said to me," Ketcham quipped.

"That was the set up for a wonderful 20 years on the bench with the best supporting cast imaginable," Cahill said.

Those who work at the courthouse have become a family of sorts, from "the girls," as she calls them, in the clerk's office to the court officers who keep them all safe. "The best of the best — bar none," she said.