Clinic Impact and Past Projects

The Appellate Litigation Clinic represents both individual and organizational clients—including nonprofits, advocacy groups, and local governments—in civil appeals before New York appellate courts.

Students serve as primary counsel, taking on the full responsibilities of appellate litigators and leading the development and execution of case strategy and client communication. They draft, revise, and file appellate briefs across a range of issues, with a particular focus on economic security, consumer and worker rights, and government and law enforcement accountability.

Most of the clinic’s work is in the Appellate Division, First Department, and the New York Court of Appeals, though cases may also arise in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit or other courts across the country depending on the semester’s docket.

Examples of Clinic Projects and Areas of Focus

The clinic represented a Legal Permanent Resident ordered removed from the United States based upon a felony conviction. Though the individual feared that they would be tortured due to their sexual orientation if deported to the designated country, the Immigration Judge and Board of Immigration Appeals denied relief under the Convention Against Torture. The clinic team briefed the case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and a student will deliver oral argument on the case in late 2026.
The clinic represented a petitioner on appeal to the New York Court of Appeals after the Appellate Division upheld the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s denial of his succession rights to his brother’s Mitchell-Lama apartment. A student team briefed multiple issues, including whether the agency’s decision was arbitrary and capricious and whether succession rights can be denied on the basis of a legal rule requiring applicants to submit tax returns.
The clinic represented a grassroots political organization in a state enforcement action involving alleged campaign finance violations under New York’s Election Law. The dispute arose after the organization was assessed a substantial civil penalty related to its activities as a multi-candidate committee supporting local candidates. The clinic team briefed the case to the Appellate Division, Third Department, addressing the proper interpretation of the statute and its application to the organization’s conduct. The Third Department ruled in the organization’s favor, reversing the judgment and dismissing the proceeding in full.
The clinic represented a trade union who had sued the New York City Department of Buildings to compel them to enforce local safety regulations relating to gas-welding qualifications. The trial court had dismissed the case for lack of standing, and a clinic team composed an extensive brief on the union's standing in its own right and on behalf of its members for the First Department. Though the First Department affirmed, a student then filed a motion for leave to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals. The First Department granted the motion in early 2026, and a new clinic team is now composing a brief for the Court of Appeals.
The clinic represented a rent-stabilized tenant facing a dramatic rent increase after succeeding to a longtime family apartment. Following the death of a relative, the landlord relied on a decades-old, agency-approved settlement agreement to raise the rent by nearly threefold, despite the protections of a recent housing law. The clinic team briefed the case to the Appellate Division, First Department, and a student will present oral argument before the court in June of 2026.
The clinic represented a group of federal legislators as amici curiae in a case challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to regulate deceptive subscription practices. The case centered on “negative option” contracts, where consumers are enrolled in automatically renewing subscriptions that are difficult to cancel and often result in unwanted charges. The clinic team briefed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The clinic prepared a brief on behalf of amici curiae in a case concerning the removal of a member of the National Labor Relations Board and the scope of presidential authority over independent agencies.