Lawyering in Dryden Town Court

Website link for Dryden Town Court:
http://dryden.ny.us/justice-department

My law practice is located in Ithaca, NY but I go out to Dryden Town Court to defend DWIs, and moving violations quite often. Dryden, New York sits between Cortland and Ithaca, and the road signs rapidly change from 55mph to 45mph to 30mph more quickly than you can blink an eye. This is especially true when it is late, and the roads are desolate. Also located right in between Dryden and Ithaca is the NY State Trooper Barracks on Route 13. So you have NYS Troopers, Tompkins County Deputies, and Dryden Police all patrolling that area, not a good place to speed. People driving down to Ithaca from Syracuse should be aware of this triple play of coverage, slow down!

Dryden has a few of my favorite things: Dunkin Donuts, I love their coffee, old fashioned, coffee flavored coffee. They also have a few favs in restaurants: A-1 on Route 13 has very good Greek pizza (with feta cheese), fresh made soups, and salads, and I also like the little Chinese place (not much ambiance for eating in) but the food is pretty good for Upstate Chinese before or after Court. My son loves their boneless spare ribs. A guy has got to eat so you can ask me about the food places in many of these areas. In the summer there are a few ice cream places (unfortunately or fortunately they are seasonal).

Dryden Town Court holds two main courts: night Court on Mondays (530pm till ?) with Judge Christopher Clausson, and morning Court on Wednesdays at 900am with Judge Valentinelli.

The busier of the two Court sessions is night Court on Mondays. It can be very busy, and the Judge does a great job of keeping things moving and lively. I once had Court earlier in Ulysses (across the lake) and the Judge and his clerk shared carrot cake (from a Birthday celebration) with my client, who was waiting. You can't get that in Brooklyn, NY.

Judge Clausson has been on the bench since 1992, almost 20 years.
They have a beautiful new sign, and a fairly new Courthouse.

Judge Valentinelli has been on the bench since 1996. So the people of Dryden like these two men and value what they do, considering that Judges come up for re-election every four years.

COURT CLERKS:
Debra Smiley, Senior Clerk
Deborah Gallagher

Phone: 
(607) 844-8888 option 1
Fax:
(607) 844-9358

Tompkins County Assistant District Attorneys are:

 ADA Linda Gafford on Wed.

ADA Gary Surdell on Mondays