2006 New York Code - Mental Hygiene Legal Service.

 
    § 47.01 Mental hygiene legal service.
    (a) There shall be a mental hygiene legal service of the state in each
  judicial  department.  The  service  shall  provide  legal assistance to
  patients or residents of a facility as defined in section 1.03  of  this
  chapter,  or  any  other  place or facility which is required to have an
  operating certificate pursuant to article sixteen or thirty-one of  this
  chapter,  and  to persons alleged to be in need of care and treatment in
  such facilities or places. The head of such  service  in  each  judicial
  department  and such assistants and such staff as may be necessary shall
  be appointed and  may  be  removed  by  the  presiding  justice  of  the
  appellate   division   of  the  judicial  department.  Appointments  and
  transfers to the service shall comply with the provisions of  the  civil
  service  law.    Standards  for  qualifications  of the personnel in the
  service shall be established by the presiding justice of  the  appellate
  division  of  the  judicial  department.  The  presiding  justice of the
  appellate division of the  judicial  department  shall  promulgate  such
  rules  or  regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of
  this article.
    (b) No court, judge  or  justice  exercising  responsibility  for  the
  administration of the courts pursuant to section twenty-eight of article
  six of the constitution shall be disqualified in any judicial proceeding
  brought  pursuant  to  this  article  solely  by reason of the fact that
  administrative responsibilities with respect to the service are  imposed
  herein.