Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic

Course Description

Client Representation

Students will represent clients appealing their felony convictions to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. Under the active supervision of an OAD supervising attorney, each student will read the hearing and/or trial record, research and select issues, and prepare the opening appellate brief. In addition, each student will communicate with his or her client and, where feasible, visit the client.

The Seminar

The seminar portion of the class will cover three broad areas: (1) the lawyering and counseling skills necessary to represent indigent clients appealing their convictions; (2) substantive elements of criminal appellate advocacy (issue spotting, standards of review, the preservation doctrine, harmless error analysis, and remedies); and (3) brief-writing skills (including analysis of a record, issue selection, and developing a theory of the case). There will also be seminar sessions dealing with oral advocacy, challenging a conviction by means of a post-verdict motion in trial court, and other types of advocacy appellate attorneys can engage in on behalf of their clients (for example, parole advocacy, addressing prison-related problems, immigration matters, social work assistance).

Qualifications for Applicants

Criminal Procedure is a pre- or co-requisite. Evidence is also preferred as a pre- or co-requisite.

The Office of the Appellate Defender represents indigent defendants in cases from Bronx and New York Counties. To avoid any possible conflict of interest, students who are likely to have pending applications for employment with either the Bronx or New York County (Manhattan) District Attorneys’ Offices may not be able to participate in the clinic.

* Consult the Clinics Open to LL.M. Students page to see if the clinic is available to LL.M.s in the current year.
** 5 credits include 3 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits.
*** Evidence is also preferred as a pre- or co-requisite.