LICH Contempt Hearing Pushed To Thursday

A lot of credit to Jim Walden and team at Gibson Dunn.  They really have been working around the clock, over weekends, etc.

A much-anticipated contempt hearing against the State University of New York (SUNY) had barely begun on Tuesday when state Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes adjourned the proceedings, at the request of two of the petitioners in the case who said Mayor Bill de Blasio was about to get involved. The legal action will resume on Thursday, February 20, at 11 a.m. at 360 Adams Street. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and 1199SEIU health care workers requested the two-day adjournment because, they said, the Mayor’s office would be discussing possible plans for LICH with the community on Tuesday. Susan Cameron, attorney for 1199, asked Justice Baynes in court for a delay in light of ongoing “good faith discussions” and added, “The Mayor’s office is today reaching out to community groups to discuss alternative outcomes” at Long Island College Hospital (LICH). Attorneys for six community groups fighting SUNY’s attempts to shut down LICH, however, told Justice Baynes on Tuesday that they were fully prepared to push ahead with the contempt proceedings. Attorney Jim Walden of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who represents the six groups, called the Mayor’s outreach “preliminary.” “The people in this room have been working around the clock,” Walden said. “We want our day in court.” Regarding the Mayor’s Office, he added, “I talk only to my clients.”