The documented record of New York City's asbestos litigation docket, a federal corruption prosecution, and the family connection to a Connecticut family law firm.
The opposing counsel firm in a Connecticut family court case is Schoonmaker, George, Blomberg, Bryniczka & Welsh. The “Blomberg” is Jill Heitler Blomberg—the daughter of Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler, a retired New York Supreme Court Justice who managed New York City's asbestos litigation docket from 2008 until her departure in March 2015.
Justice Heitler's departure came six weeks after the arrest of Sheldon Silver, the New York Assembly Speaker who had served as “of counsel” at Weitz & Luxenberg—the firm with the most cases pending on the docket Justice Heitler administered.
This page presents the documented public record of that docket, that prosecution, and the family connection to Connecticut. Every fact is sourced. Where the record contains allegations rather than findings, they are labeled as such.
Sources: Fordham Law News (Oct. 2023); SGB website; Best Lawyers; JAMS profile; Ballotpedia; DOJ/SDNY; ATRA Judicial Hellholes reports (2013–2018)
Each link in this chain is documented in public records. The question is whether it was ever disclosed.
Twenty years of documented events, from Sheldon Silver's rise as Assembly Speaker to the family connection to a Connecticut family law firm.
Sheldon Silver becomes Speaker of the New York State Assembly. He will hold this position for 21 years, making him one of the longest-serving Speakers in New York history.
Source: New York State Assembly recordsSherry Klein Heitler is elected to the New York City Civil Court.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biographyJustice Helen Freedman, then overseeing the NYCAL docket, defers all punitive damages indefinitely, stating it was “the fair thing to do” because repeatedly punishing companies “served no corrective purpose.” This deferral will remain in place for 18 years.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes report (2014–2015)Silver appoints Perry Weitz—co-founder of Weitz & Luxenberg—to the judicial screening committee. That same year, Justice Heitler is assigned to NYCAL's Center for Complex Litigation.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes report (April 2014); NY Courts Historical SocietyHeitler becomes Administrative Judge for Civil Matters, New York County (First Judicial District), with oversight of the NYCAL docket. The appointment is made by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biography; Washington Examiner (March 2, 2015)Weitz & Luxenberg moves to vacate the proof-of-claim filing requirement for asbestos trust claims. Heitler creates a distinction between “intended” and “anticipated” claims, which defense attorneys describe as a loophole allowing plaintiffs to withhold trust claims from juries, then file them after trial.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes report (2013–2014)Heitler reverses Justice Freedman's 18-year-old deferral of punitive damages in NYCAL cases. The reversal responds to a motion filed by Weitz & Luxenberg. Defense attorneys call it an “absolute game-changer.”
Source: ATRA report (April 8, 2014); judicialhellholes.orgAt an ABA hearing, attorney Joseph Belluck (Belluck & Fox) states: “I only have to file the claims that my client intends to file before the trial. It is incredibly nuanced, and she did it for a reason.” The “she” is Heitler.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes report (2017–2018), citing ABA testimonyThe American Tort Reform Association names NYCAL the #1 Judicial Hellhole in the country. The report states that Justice Heitler is “principally responsible” for the ranking.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes 2014–2015 report; Washington Examiner (Dec. 16, 2014)Heitler reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. Her Administrative Judge term expires. A temporary order allows her to remain briefly into 2015.
Source: Washington Examiner (March 2, 2015); NY Courts Historical SocietySheldon Silver is arrested by the FBI on federal corruption charges. The complaint alleges he received approximately $4 million in payments from Weitz & Luxenberg “solely through the corrupt use of his official position.” He is charged with honest services fraud, extortion, and money laundering.
Source: DOJ/SDNY press release (Jan. 22, 2015); federal complaint, U.S. v. SilverThe New York Post reports that Heitler is leaving the NYCAL docket. Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti announces Justice Peter H. Moulton as Heitler's replacement. Defense attorneys describe Moulton as “a virtual unknown to asbestos litigants” who operated “well outside” the Silver/Lippman political network.
Source: NY Post (March 2, 2015); Washington Examiner (March 2 and 9, 2015)Heitler is appointed Chief of the Office of Policy and Planning for the New York State Unified Court System, overseeing approximately 300 problem-solving courts statewide.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biography; JAMS profileSilver is convicted on all seven counts: two counts of honest services mail fraud, two counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of extortion under color of official right, and two counts of money laundering. He is automatically expelled from the Assembly and disbarred.
Source: DOJ/SDNY; Wikipedia (verified against multiple sources)Silver is sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, ordered to forfeit $5.4 million, and fined $1.75 million.
Source: DOJ/SDNY; Silver, 864 F.3d at 109The Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacates Silver's conviction, citing the Supreme Court's decision in McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016), which narrowed the definition of “official acts” in corruption cases. Certiorari later denied, 138 S. Ct. 738 (2018).
Source: United States v. Silver, 864 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 2017)Silver is convicted a second time on all counts at retrial before Judge Valerie E. Caproni (S.D.N.Y.).
Source: DOJ/SDNYSilver is sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
Source: DOJ/SDNYThe Second Circuit dismisses the three asbestos-related counts with prejudice, finding the evidence insufficient as a matter of law. Four real estate scheme charges are upheld. Silver's final conviction rests on the real estate corruption, not the Weitz & Luxenberg mesothelioma referrals.
Source: United States v. Silver, No. 18-2380 (2d Cir. Jan. 21, 2020)Silver is resentenced to six years and six months in federal prison, with a $1 million fine.
Source: DOJ/SDNYHeitler joins JAMS (New York) as a private mediator, arbitrator, and special master, listing family law among her practice areas. She co-chairs the Governor's Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluators (2021–2022). Her daughter Jill Heitler Blomberg is simultaneously serving as AAML-CT Chapter President, GAL, AMC, and named partner at SGB.
Source: JAMS profile; AAML-CT records; SGB websiteSheldon Silver dies at age 77 at Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts, while in custody at Federal Medical Center, Devens. Silver had been briefly released under the CARES Act on May 4, 2021, then recalled to custody approximately two days later.
Source: Multiple news outlets; Wikipedia (verified)Heitler is appointed to the Committee on Character and Fitness, Appellate Division, First Department—the body that screens applicants for admission to the New York bar.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biographyNYCAL (New York City Asbestos Litigation) is the consolidated docket for all asbestos personal injury cases filed in New York City. It is one of the largest mass tort dockets in the country. The following documented actions were taken during Justice Heitler's administration of the docket (2008–2015).
In 1996, Justice Helen Freedman—Heitler's predecessor on the NYCAL docket—had deferred all punitive damages indefinitely, stating it was “the fair thing to do” because repeatedly punishing companies “served no corrective purpose” and “in many cases, the wrong was committed by a predecessor company, not even the company now charged.”
In April 2014, at the request of Weitz & Luxenberg, Justice Heitler reversed this deferral. Defense attorneys described the ruling as an “absolute game-changer” creating “chaos and confusion.” Over 300 defendants challenged the order. The Appellate Division, First Department later found that Heitler's procedures for punitive damages “deprived defendants of their due process rights” and remanded to her successor.
Sources: ATRA (April 8, 2014); ATRA Judicial Hellholes 2014–2015; Washington Examiner (Dec. 16, 2014); First Department, Appellate Division (July 9, 2015)
When Weitz & Luxenberg moved to vacate the proof-of-claim filing requirement in 2012, Heitler created a distinction between “intended” and “anticipated” claims. Attorney Joseph Belluck stated at an ABA hearing: “I only have to file the claims that my client intends to file before the trial. It is incredibly nuanced, and she did it for a reason.”
Defense attorneys documented instances of post-trial trust claim filings: in one case, a $250,000 NYCAL settlement was followed by 23 trust claims—eight filed within 24 hours of settlement.
Sources: ATRA Judicial Hellholes 2013–14; 2017–18 (citing ABA hearing testimony, June 2014)
An empirical analysis of publicly available NYCAL court data found that consolidated trial settings resulted in “an artificially inflated frequency of plaintiff verdicts at abnormally large amounts.” Between 2010 and 2014, consolidated trials produced $324.5 million across 14 plaintiffs. Average NYCAL jury awards since 2007: $21.7 million. Average statewide: $3.1 million.
When the economic consulting firm that authored the study published its findings, Weitz & Luxenberg served a subpoena on the firm demanding information about its clients. Justice Moulton (Heitler's successor) denied the defendants' motion to quash.
Sources: Economic consulting firm study (2015); ATRA Judicial Hellholes 2016–2017
Multiple defense attorneys, quoted in the Washington Examiner (March 3, 2015), described Heitler's courtroom as one where it was “unusual” for her to grant a defendant's motion for summary judgment. One attorney stated: “She doesn't do anything in her courtroom.” Defense attorneys reported that Heitler assigned actual trials to Justices Martin Shulman or Joan Madden. Shulman was later identified as the former president of Silver's synagogue and his neighbor.
On March 18, 2015—after her departure had been announced—Heitler denied a summary judgment motion after 26 months of discovery in which no one identified the source of asbestos-containing products. ATRA described this as Heitler's “March madness.”
Sources: Washington Examiner (March 3, 2015); ATRA (March 19, 2015)
Sheldon Silver served as New York Assembly Speaker for 21 years (1994–2015). He was arrested, tried, convicted, retried, reconvicted, and died in federal custody. The prosecution revealed the financial relationship between the Speaker's office, a law firm, and the court system.
Silver became “of counsel” at Weitz & Luxenberg in fall 2002. He was “not expected to and did not perform any legal work” for W&L clients. Beginning November 2003, Dr. Robert Taub at Columbia-Presbyterian referred mesothelioma patients to W&L through Silver. Silver directed $525,000 in state grants from the HCRA Assembly Pool to Taub's research ($250K in July 2005, $250K in August 2006, $25K in May 2008). In return, Silver received approximately $3 million in referral fees from mesothelioma cases and approximately $1.4 million in salary—a total of approximately $4.4 million from W&L alone. His first referral fee check was $176,048.02 (March 2005). Silver also received approximately $835,000 in referral fees from a separate real estate scheme.
Sources: United States v. Silver, 864 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 2017), pp. 7–15; DOJ/SDNY press releases (Jan. 22, 2015; Nov. 30, 2015; May 3, 2016; May 11, 2018; July 27, 2018; July 20, 2020)
Silver appointed Perry Weitz—his colleague at Weitz & Luxenberg and co-founder of the firm—to the judicial screening committee. That committee recommended Justice Heitler for her judicial position. Heitler then presided over the NYCAL docket where Weitz & Luxenberg had the most pending cases.
Source: ATRA Judicial Hellholes report (April 2014)
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, who appointed Heitler to lead the NYCAL docket in 2008, was described in multiple sources as a childhood friend and political ally of Sheldon Silver.
Source: Washington Examiner (March 2, 2015); ATRA reports
As Assembly Speaker, Silver controlled which legislation reached the Assembly floor. ATRA documented that Silver “obstructed every reasonably crafted tort reform bill in the legislature for more than 20 years.” Governor Cuomo stated publicly: “The trial lawyers are the single most powerful political force” in the state. Silver's legislative obstruction protected the litigation environment that enriched his law firm.
Sources: ATRA Judicial Hellholes reports (multiple years); Governor Cuomo quoted in ATRA
Silver was convicted on all seven counts on November 30, 2015, before Judge Valerie E. Caproni (S.D.N.Y.). Sentenced to 12 years and ordered to forfeit $5.4 million. On July 13, 2017, the Second Circuit vacated the conviction under McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016). The Supreme Court denied certiorari, 138 S. Ct. 738 (2018). Silver was retried and convicted again on May 11, 2018. On January 21, 2020, the Second Circuit dismissed the three asbestos-related counts with prejudice as a matter of law, finding insufficient evidence that Silver agreed to perform “official acts” as defined under McDonnell. Four charges related to the real estate scheme were upheld. Silver was resentenced to 6.5 years. Briefly released under the CARES Act on May 4, 2021, he was recalled to custody approximately two days later. He died on January 24, 2022, at age 77, at Federal Medical Center, Devens (Massachusetts).
Sources: United States v. Silver, 864 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 2017); United States v. Silver, No. 18-2380 (2d Cir. Jan. 21, 2020); DOJ/SDNY press releases
After departing the NYCAL docket in March 2015, Justice Heitler held the following positions. Each is documented in public records.
Heitler oversaw approximately 300 problem-solving courts statewide (drug courts, mental health courts, veterans courts, etc.). This is a senior statewide administrative role within the court system.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biography; JAMS profile
Heitler co-chaired the commission reviewing how forensic custody evaluations are conducted in New York. During this same period, her daughter served as President of the Connecticut AAML Chapter (2018–19), GAL, AMC, and Special Master in Connecticut family courts. The mother shaped custody evaluation standards in New York while the daughter applied custody evaluation judgments in Connecticut.
Source: Governor's office announcement; JAMS profile; SGB website
Heitler joined JAMS—rated “Best Overall ADR Provider” by the Connecticut Law Tribune—as a private neutral specializing in family law, commercial disputes, and employment matters. Any Connecticut family case referred to JAMS could structurally reach Heitler.
Source: JAMS profile; CT Law Tribune
Heitler now serves on the body that screens applicants for admission to the New York bar—including attorneys seeking dual NY-CT admission under the reciprocity agreement in effect since 2012.
Source: NY Courts Historical Society biography
Justice Heitler has served on the Fordham Law Advisory Council since 1990 and as an adjunct professor (2010–2023). Jill Heitler Blomberg has led the Fordham Law CT Alumni Chapter since 2007. Fordham Law documented them as the first mother-daughter pair to serve together on the FLAA Board.
Source: Fordham Law News (October 2023); FLAA Board listing
This page publishes what we can source. It also publishes what we cannot.
These are questions, not accusations. The documented facts stand on their own.
Every fact on this page is in the public record. The question is whether any of it was disclosed to the Connecticut families whose cases are handled by Justice Heitler's daughter's law firm.