A confidential attendant to a justice of supreme court who has held such position for not less than ten years shall, upon the death or retirement of such justice, be classified as a court attendant under the provisions of the civil service law, and shall retain such classification after the death or retirement of such justice; but a justice who shall succeed such a retiring justice shall have the same right and power to appoint a confidential attendant outside of the civil service list as has existed heretofore.
N.Y. Jud. Law § 168