The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD)
is one of New York City’s oldest providers of appellate representation to poor people convicted of felonies, the City’s second oldest institutional indigent defense office, and a national model of effective, innovative, and holistic defense representation.
OAD'S MISSION
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 defense representation through education and training, and advocating for systemic reform of New York City’s criminal justice system.
Support Fairness, Dignity and Humanity in the Administration of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Make a Gift to OAD Today.
OAD NEWS
Appellate Division: Prosecutor’s Jury Selection Improperly Based on Dubious Explanations & Stereotypes
On June 29, 2021, in People v. Murray, the Appellate Division reversed the convictions of Dexter Murray, an OAD client, finding that the prosecutor at his trial exercised her peremptory jury challenges in a racially discriminatory manner. In the landmark decision Batson v. Kentucky (1986), the United States Supreme Court made clear that it is…
Read More The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD), ALAA Announce Recognition of Staff Union
January 25, 2021 Today, the Office of the Appellate Defender recognized the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys – UAW Local 2325 as the collective bargaining representative of its workers. OAD represents individuals experiencing poverty, who are predominantly Black and Brown and have shouldered the burden and trauma of racism, mass incarceration, over-policing, over-criminalization, and anti-Black…
Read More 
Caprice R. Jenerson Selected as the President & Attorney-in-Charge for the Office of the Appellate Defender
The Board of Directors of the Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is proud to announce today that it has selected Caprice R. Jenerson to be OAD’s next President and Attorney-In-Charge, effective December 1, 2020. Ms. Jenerson comes to OAD after serving as the Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer and Director of the Pro Bono…
Read More 
On Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade …
The Office of the Appellate Defender, Inc. stands in solidarity with the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade. We support the protestors in New York City, across the country and throughout the world. We share their outrage at the seemingly endless list of black victims of police and vigilante violence.…
Read More 
OAD is Open for Business
Like you, everyone at OAD is deeply concerned about and closely monitoring the spread of the coronavirus/COVID-19. Although we have closed our physical office for the safety of our staff and our clients, we continue to do the important work of representing and advocating for people convicted of felonies every day. We are answering all…
Read More 
Indictment Dismissed
Today, in People v. Coulibaly, the First Department vacated OAD’s client’s conviction and dismissed his indictment after finding that trial counsel incorrectly calculated his client’s speedy trial time. Kudos to our Volunteer Appellate Defender co-counsel at MilbankLLP! You can read the decision here.
Read More