Partner Gabrielle S. Friedman continued an LSW tradition by serving as an “Associate Justice” at the Office of the Appellate Defender’s 29th annual mock Supreme Court oral argument at its gala fundraiser: “First Monday in October.”  Each year, OAD invites members of the New York bar to assume the roles of Supreme Court Justices hearing oral argument on a case before the Court in the coming term.  In 2022, the OAD’s “bench” heard argument in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College:  Do race-sensitive admission practices in higher education institutions violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act?

The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is one of New York City’s oldest providers of appellate representation to poor people convicted of felonies, and the City’s second oldest institutional indigent defense office.  Since its founding in 1988, OAD has held a unique position in the field of indigent appellate defense: it not only provides superb appellate advocacy, it is also a leader in innovative, holistic, and client-centered representation. Today, OAD represents poor people convicted of felonies in Manhattan and the Bronx in the New York Supreme Court, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department, the New York State Court of Appeals, and the federal courts.

LSW is proud to support the work of the Office of the Appellate Defender.