Clerks of the Court (Historical)

Joseph J. Lucchi

Clerk of the Court: 1977 - 1984
Born: November 17, 1914

Presiding Justice Francis T. Murphy stated that, after his thirty-eight years of public service, Joseph J. Lucchi is remembered for his “temperament, intellect and commitment,” as well as his hard work and passion while managing the 1983 restoration of the courthouse building. In 1972, Italy awarded him a citation as “Cavaliere della Republica Italiana” for his volunteer work with the Berceto Foundation. In 1981, he received the Bernard Botein Medal for outstanding contributions to the administration of the courts. In 1984, he was given the William Nelson Crumvell Award of the New York County Lawyers' Association for outstanding service to the legal profession and the public.

The son of Pietro and Olivia (Gardini) Lucchi, Joseph J. Lucchi was born on November 17, 1914. He received a Bachelor of Science from City College of New York in 1935. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from New York Law School in 1938 and was admitted to the New York State Bar the same year. Lucchi was associated with the firm of Markewich and Null until November 1940 when he volunteered for military service prior to World War II.

He attended Officers Candidate School and was commissioned and served in the Adjutant Generals Corps until he was discharged in 1946 as a lieutenant colonel. After, Lucchi was in the Army Reserve for twenty-one years until he retired as a colonel in 1974.

Lucchi served as the Assistant Corporate Counsel in the New York City Law Department from 1946 until 1958. He also oversaw the Workers' Compensation Division from 1951-1954 and the Contracts Division from 1954-1958. Lucchi was Deputy Clerk of the Appellate Division, First Department from 1958 to 1977. In 1972, Lucchi was loaned to the Court of Appeals for the month of October to assist during the terminal leave of its retiring clerk at the time, Raymond J. Cannon. Joseph Lucchi was also a member of the Columbia Lawyers Association, New York County Lawyers Association, and the Berceto Foundation where he was President from 1970 to 1978. He was Clerk of the Court of the Appellate Division, First Department from 1977 to 1984.

Lucchi facilitated mechanisms for the first woman to work at the Appellate Division, First Department. In 1966, while Joseph J. Lucchi was Deputy Clerk, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller named Louis J. Capozzoli as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department. When Capozzoli informed Lucchi that he was bringing his secretary, Mildred Holtz, Lucchi responded no women worked at the First Department and that Holtz would not be permitted to transfer because there were no locks on the courthouse's bathroom doors. Capozzoli answered, “then you can tell the Governor I am not coming.” Within a few days, Lucchi had locks put on the bathroom doors and Mildred Holtz became the Appellate Division, First Department's first female employee.

Joseph Lucchi was known as an excellent administrator and a talented writer. He is the author of the article, The Work and Procedures of the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, (New York State Bar Journal, January 1982, p-381), and the co-author of Highlights of Appellate Division Practice, (New York County Lawyers County Lawyers Association Bar Bulletin, Vol. 26 No. 1, 1968-69. p-18).

Joseph married his first wife, Christine Romani Lucchi, on July 11, 1942. They had one child, Jo Ellen Joseph Lucchi, and were married until Christine's death in February of 1966. He married his second wife, Rosa Proni Lucchi, on June 12, 1969.

Source:

• Lucchi to Retire Next Month as Clerk of Appellate Division, New York Law Journal, November 26, 1984.

*This biography was co-authored by Zhazil Noel and Kaleigh McCormick.