Company Profile
Office of the Appellate Defender
Company Overview
The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is one of New York City’s oldest provider of appellate representation to poor people convicted of felonies, the City’s second oldest institutional indigent defense offices and a national model of effective, innovative and holistic defense representation. OAD strives to ensure that poor people convicted of felonies receive full and equal access to justice by providing exceptional appellate representation, improving the quality of indigent representation through education and training, and advocating for systemic reform of New York City’s criminal justice system.
OAD handles post-conviction cases from the Bronx and Manhattan, including direct appeals before the Appellate Division, First Department, and the New York Court of Appeals. OAD also litigates sex offender registration level hearings, drug law resentencings, and motions to overturn wrongful convictions (including claims based on new or undisclosed evidence, prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel). OAD additionally advocates for improved prison and parole conditions, and provides reentry assistance.