Page 2 - OAD 2023 First Monday Journal

CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF CLIENT-CENTERED ADVOCACY

OAD is the oldest institutional provider in New York City with a sole focus on mandated appellate representation
and postconviction relief.

Communities of color are disproportionately affected by the criminal legal system, and much work is still needed to
overcome systemic and structural inequities. For 35 years OAD has stood as a trusted ally and beacon of hope for
hundreds of clients each year who become ensnared in the criminal legal system and do not have the financial
resources to engage legal counsel. We recognize that poverty, trauma, mental health disorders, and other social
determinants are inextricably intertwined in our clients’ stories. We also know that substandard housing, food
instability, low living wages, no access to quality education, and inadequate preventative health care are common
themes in the lives of the individuals we serve.

In the face of so many hurdles, OAD centers humanity and dignity through its advocacy, legal representation,
and programs:

• Client Services Program (2001) – The client services coordinators collaborate with attorneys as well as work
in an individual capacity to ensure that clients are treated with dignity and respect to advance OAD’s mission
of providing holistic client-centered services. They are instrumental in assisting and advocating for clients in
the areas of parole advocacy, conditions related to confinement, and re-entry.

• Reinvestigation Project (2007) – OAD understands the significance, both for clients and systemically, of
challenging wrongful convictions at the earliest possible stage. The Reinvestigation Project at OAD advances
this mission by identifying and then thoroughly litigating—after a careful examination of each case assigned
to our office—those with hallmark signs of a wrongful conviction. Every case in the Reinvestigation Project
undergoes an exhaustive investigation and analytical reconstruction, fundamental building blocks that help
expose wrongful convictions and bring justice to our clients.

• DVSJA Project (2019) - The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) created an avenue of relief for
people in prison who have also been victimized by domestic abuse. Our project advocates for current and
former clients whose punishments do not reflect this substantial mitigation. OAD staff use trauma-informed
practices to discuss with our clients their past histories and to educate decision-makers on the importance of
the entirety of our clients’ stories.

• Non-Citizen Client Project (2021) – Many of our clients are non-citizens who face a variety of harsh immi-
gration consequences. We conduct a thorough analysis to determine how/if the conviction on appeal might
impact the immigration status of the client and then determine a path forward that offers the best chance of
mitigating the immigration consequences.

OAD was founded as and continues to operate as a training office that not only provides high quality repre-
sentation to individual clients, but also improves the quality of indigent defense throughout the state through
its Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic at New York University Law School and Volunteer Appellate Defender (VAD)
Program that allows attorneys at private law firms to co-counsel appeals with OAD attorneys.

Learn more at oadnyc.org.