Just in case that site disappears, here is a copy:
J.H. Gallet, 58, Federal Judge Who Transcended Disabilities
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Published: April 27, 2001
Jeffry H. Gallet, who overcame great learning disabilities to become a law school graduate, co-founder of a Manhattan law firm, housing law expert, author, family court judge and, finally, a member of the federal judiciary, died on April 20 in a Manhattan hospital. He was 58 and lived on the Upper East Side.
The cause of death was complications from injuries he suffered in an automobile accident in Maine last July, said Stanley B. Dreyer, a partner in Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, which
Judge Gallet helped found in 1978.
Judge Gallet sat on the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York at the federal Custom House on Bowling Green. He was named to that branch of the federal bench in 1993.
Before that, he was a member of the New York City Family Court, serving from 1982 to 1993. He was outspoken in his demand for reform of the child-welfare system.
''The whole system is hidden by confidentiality,'' he told a reporter in 1992. ''Nobody is really watching how it works. And this is a system that frequently goes wild.''
Born in Queens, Judge Gallet fought to overcome dyslexia, dyscalculia (difficulties making mathematical calculations) and dysgraphia (problems with writing) as a youngster. He graduated from Wilkes College in Pennsylvania in 1964.
He received his law degree at Brooklyn Law School in 1967 and did postgraduate work at the New School in Manhattan.
In private practice he served as a tenant representative on the Temporary State Commission on Rental Housing from 1978 to 1980.
In 1980, he took his first judicial assignment in civil court. While on the family court bench, appointed by Mayor Edward I. Koch, he also filled in as an acting criminal court judge in 1984.
He was the author or co-author of ''Rent Stabilization and Control Laws of New York'' (1971), ''Landlord and Tenant Law and Summary Proceedings Handbook'' (1985) and ''Spouse and Child Support in New York'' (1996).
Judge Gallet is survived by his wife, Bonnie Robin Cohen-Gallet; a daughter, Sarah; two stepchildren, Daniel and Elizabeth; a sister, Andrea Lander; and a brother, Edward.
His learning difficulties persisted to some extent in later life; Judge Gallet said he still had to look at his watch to tell his right hand from his left.
On a wall in his chambers, he displayed a National Literacy Honors medal, which he received in 1988 for his contributions to the literacy movement
.
Jonathan Simon (Jonathan Simon)
Jeff died in 2001, seriously injured in an automobile accident.
His obituary is on the NYTimes website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/27/nyregion/jh-gallet-58-federal-judge-who-transcended-disabilities.html
%%%%%%%%%%
Just in case that site disappears, here is a copy:
J.H. Gallet, 58, Federal Judge Who Transcended Disabilities
By WOLFGANG SAXON
Published: April 27, 2001
Jeffry H. Gallet, who overcame great learning disabilities to become a law school graduate, co-founder of a Manhattan law firm, housing law expert, author, family court judge and, finally, a member of the federal judiciary, died on April 20 in a Manhattan hospital. He was 58 and lived on the Upper East Side.
The cause of death was complications from injuries he suffered in an automobile accident in Maine last July, said Stanley B. Dreyer, a partner in Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, which
Judge Gallet helped found in 1978.
Judge Gallet sat on the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York at the federal Custom House on Bowling Green. He was named to that branch of the federal bench in 1993.
Before that, he was a member of the New York City Family Court, serving from 1982 to 1993. He was outspoken in his demand for reform of the child-welfare system.
''The whole system is hidden by confidentiality,'' he told a reporter in 1992. ''Nobody is really watching how it works. And this is a system that frequently goes wild.''
Born in Queens, Judge Gallet fought to overcome dyslexia, dyscalculia (difficulties making mathematical calculations) and dysgraphia (problems with writing) as a youngster. He graduated from Wilkes College in Pennsylvania in 1964.
He received his law degree at Brooklyn Law School in 1967 and did postgraduate work at the New School in Manhattan.
In private practice he served as a tenant representative on the Temporary State Commission on Rental Housing from 1978 to 1980.
In 1980, he took his first judicial assignment in civil court. While on the family court bench, appointed by Mayor Edward I. Koch, he also filled in as an acting criminal court judge in 1984.
He was the author or co-author of ''Rent Stabilization and Control Laws of New York'' (1971), ''Landlord and Tenant Law and Summary Proceedings Handbook'' (1985) and ''Spouse and Child Support in New York'' (1996).
Judge Gallet is survived by his wife, Bonnie Robin Cohen-Gallet; a daughter, Sarah; two stepchildren, Daniel and Elizabeth; a sister, Andrea Lander; and a brother, Edward.
His learning difficulties persisted to some extent in later life; Judge Gallet said he still had to look at his watch to tell his right hand from his left.
On a wall in his chambers, he displayed a National Literacy Honors medal, which he received in 1988 for his contributions to the literacy movement
.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%