With state judges suing the state Legislature for a pay raise, Chief Judge Judith Kaye remarked briefly about the lawsuit during the 50th annual Law Day today on the steps of the state Court of Appeals.

Afterwards, Kaye, left, said, “It’s just a very sad thing when you have to sue partners in government. We should be spending our time thinking of good things we can do to make government work better, to make the courts work better. We need to be on the same page.”

Law Day was also an emotional one for Kaye, who reaches the maximum retirement age of 70 next year, meaning this Law Day will be her last.

She admitted she became emotional at the end of the ceremony as Senior Court Attendant Michelle Perry-Belches sang “America, The Beautiful.”

Kaye sued the state two weeks ago and recently there have been reports that some judges are protesting the lack of a pay raise by not hearing cases presented by law firms where state lawmakers are employed.

Some judges also said they have recused themselves in such cases because the lawsuit impedes their impartiality.

Kaye, in an email to the 1,250 state-level judges Thursday, warned judges that retaliation because of a lack of a pay raise would be inappropriate, writing “our many friends and supporters tell us quite frankly that we reduce our effectiveness and weaken our cause when we publicly engage in conduct that is perceived as” retaliatory.

Still, Kaye told reporters today that a judge’s recusal is a personal decision.

“First, I don’t think very many judges are doing that,” she said. “Second of all, recusal is and always has been a very individual matter.”

Judges, who have denied a raise since 1999, want the current average salary of state Supreme Court judges to be raised from $136,700 to least $165,200, which is what federal district-court judges get paid.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo spoke at Law Day and urged that the Legislature approve a pay raise. Yet Cuomo said he can’t represent either side in the matter, forcing the Legislature and Gov. David Paterson to hire their own attorneys at taxpayers’ expense.

“My office represents every party in the case on other matters,” Cuomo said. “But as a citizen, I believe the Legislature must act immediately to pay our judges a salary commensurate with the awesome responsibility they bear.”

He added that the lack of a pay-raise for judges “is the collision of the unfortunate and connected phenomena: the dysfunction of Albany meets the degradation of public service.”

And he also said he may seek an opinion to increase the retirement age for judges. He said the current retirement age of 70 was put into effect in 1869.

“At the time the average life expectancy was 45 years old,” he said. “Today, life expectancy is close to 80. So for constitutional purposes, 70 really is the new 50 and as I tell myself because I’m 50, 50 really is the new 30.

“Therefore, Judith Kaye really has 40 more years on the bench.”