OAD MISSION STATEMENT
The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is a not-for-profit firm of 19 lawyers, a full-time social worker, and six additional staff members devoted to providing high quality representation to indigent persons convicted of felony crimes. OAD's primary practice is criminal appeals in state court and collateral proceedings in state and federal court. OAD is a unique hybrid - part law firm, part training program - that has built a national reputation for attracting outstanding lawyers and finding innovative ways to serve the poor. Created in 1988 by a resolution of the Administrative Board of the Courts to help relieve a backlog of appeals in Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Department, OAD has fulfilled its mission by providing quality defense at the appellate level, while training countless lawyers in the practice of appellate advocacy. Every year OAD serves hundreds of indigent clients, the overwhelming majority of whom are incarcerated in state prison. For many of its clients, OAD is the only hope for justice in a system that too often fails to treat poor people fairly.
OAD is devoted to maintaining a staff of lawyers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The office attracts some of the most outstanding new lawyers in the nation. Many have clerked for prominent judges in the federal or state courts. OAD also employs distinguished law graduates straight out of law school and lawyers with non-judicial post-graduate experience. Every OAD staff member shares a profound commitment to defending the underdog and to public service.
In an expansion of its training mission, in 2003, OAD was invited by New York University School of Law to create and teach a clinical class for New York University law students. In August 2003, OAD launched the Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic. As part of this program, eight to ten NYU students represent, under the supervision of an OAD supervisor, an OAD client on appeal. The second component of the clinic is a weekly seminar on appellate advocacy.
Though OAD's principal practice is representing indigent people convicted of felonies on direct appeal in the state courts, each of OAD's attorneys is committed to serving his or her clients fully - which often means much more than filing a direct appeal. OAD represents numerous clients in their efforts to obtain work release or parole, to deal with immigration problems, or to get admitted into rehabilitation programs. In some cases, OAD represents clients who have been unsuccessful in obtaining relief in state court by bringing habeas corpus petitions in federal court. OAD also takes on a small number of appeals from juvenile delinquency adjudications and has been certified to handle capital appeals.
In 2001, OAD expanded the scope of its work by creating the Social Work/Re-entry Program, staffed by a social worker/attorney and a social work intern. This program allows us to provide greater assistance to our clients facing problems within the prison system and once they have been released from prison.