OAD TEAM
Legal Staff
President and Attorney in Charge, Office of the Appellate Defender (2020-present); Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) (2019 – 2020); Director, Pro Bono and Volunteer Programs, New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) (2017 – 2020); Senior Resource Counsel, Clemency Project 2014 – Washington, D.C. (2015-2017); Private Practitioner, state and federal criminal appeals (2013 – 2015); Senior Associate and Criminal Practice Lead, Cochran Firm-Atlanta (2009 – 2013); Managing Partner, Jenerson & Thompson, P.C. (2006-2009); Managing Attorney, D. Lowell Thomas, P.C. (1996-2006)
Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., 1996; Rutgers University, B.A., 1990
Deputy Attorney-in-Charge, 2022-present; Managing Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender 2020-2022; Supervising Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2018-2020); Appellate Counsel, Center for Appellate Litigation (2016-18); Staff Attorney, Appeals Bureau, Legal Aid Society of Nassau County (2006-16); Clinic Student, The Innocence Project Clinic (2005-06); Judicial Intern, Hon. Deborah A. Batts, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York (2005); Summer Associate, Fischer & Burstein, P.C. (2005); Legal Assistant, Dershowitz, Eiger, & Adelson, P.C. (2003-04).
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., 2006; Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, B.M., cum laude, 2001.
Senior Staff Attorney in the Reinvestigation Project, Office of the Appellate Defender (2021-present); Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Practice (2013-2021); Clinic Student, Challenging the Consequences of Mass Incarceration Clinic (2012-2013); Managing Director, Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2012-2013); Extern, Center for Appellate Litigation (2012); Extern, Legal Aid Society, Immigration Law Unit (2012); Legal Intern, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Practice (2012); Extern, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (2011); Legal Intern, Legal Resources Centre (2011); Investigator, New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (2007-2010)
Columbia Law School, J.D., 2013; Columbia University, B.A., 2007
Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2021-present); Clinic Student, Criminal Defense and Reentry Clinic, New York University School of Law (2020-2021); Legal Intern, Center for Appellate Litigation (2020); Clinic Student, Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic, New York University School of Law (2020); Legal Intern, Queens Defenders (2019-2020); Legal Intern, Federal Defenders of New York, SDNY (2019).
New York University School of Law, J.D., 2021; Columbia University, B.A., 2016.
Supervising Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (1995-present); Adjunct Professor, New York University School of Law (2008-present); Director of Training and Legal Developments, Office of the Appellate Defender (2003-present); Vice-President, First Department Assigned Counsel Corporation (1996-present); Staff Attorney, Public Defender Service of Washington, D.C. (1988-1994); Karpatkin Fellow, American Civil Liberties Union (1987-1988); Law Clerk, Hon. Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court (1986-1987); Law Clerk, Hon. Wilfred Feinberg, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1985-1986). Editor, Yale Law Journal; Yale Moot Court Semi-Finalist; Benjamin Cardozo Prize. Author, Women's Prisons: An Equal Protection Evaluation, 84 Yale L.J. 1182 (1985); Contributing Editor, Criminal Practice Institute, Trial Manual (1989-1993).
Yale University, J.D., 1985; Harvard College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1980.
Law Graduate, Office of the Appellate Defender (2022-present); Student Advocate, Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic, New York University School of Law (2022); Legal Intern, The Legal Aid Society Criminal Defense Practice Special Litigation Unit (2021); Summer Legal Intern, Center for Appellate Litigation (2021); Student Advocate, Family Defense Clinic, New York University School of Law (2020-2021); Summer Legal Intern, Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, (2020); Medical-Legal-Community Partnership Program Development Paralegal, Philadelphia Legal Assistance (2018-2019).
New York University School of Law, J.D. 2022, Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar; Wesleyan University, B.A., 2015.
Supervising Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2021-present); Staff Attorney & DEI Coordinator, Appellate Advocates (2018-2021); Senior Associate, Shapiro Arato (2017-2018); Staff Attorney, NYU Law School Clemency Resource Center (2015-2016); Fellow, Federal Defenders of New York & Connecticut (2015-2016); Associate, Morvillo Abramowitz (2012-2015); Law Clerk, Hon. Eric Vitaliano, Eastern District of New York (2010-2011); Law Clerk, Hon. R. Guy Cole, Jr., Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (2009-2010).
New York University Law School, J.D., 2008; Cambridge University, M.Phil. 2005; Yale University, B.A. 2001.
Senior Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2022-present); Rising Star, New York Law Journal (2022); Staff Attorney, Criminal Appeals Bureau, Legal Aid Society (2017-2022); Law Clerk, District Judge Nelson S. Román, U.S. S.D.N.Y. (2016-2017); Senior Litigation Associate (previously Summer Associate), Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (2008; 2010-2016); Pro Bono Assistant Supervisor (previously Clinic Student), Capital Defender and Federal Habeas Clinic, Brooklyn Law School (2008-2009); Legal Extern, New York Civil Liberties Union (2009); Legal Intern, American Civil Liberties Union, LGBT & AIDS Project (2008); Clinic Student, Criminal Appeals Defense Clinic (Center for Appellate Litigation), Brooklyn Law School (2008); Articles Editor, Brooklyn Law Review; Appellate Division, Moot Court Honor Society; Judicial Internship, Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann, U.S. E.D.N.Y. (2007); Mathematics Teacher, Chair of Department, Satellite Academy High School, NYC Dept. of Ed. (2004-2006); Summer Intern & Fellow, Mayor Pro-Tem Gordon Quan, Houston City Council (2003).
Brooklyn Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2009;
City University of New York - Lehman College, M.S.Ed., magna cum laude, 2006;
University of Southern California, B.A. (Political Science) & B.S. (Computer Science), 2004.
Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2019-present); Staff Attorney, Criminal Defense Practice, The Legal Aid Society (2017-2019); Law Clerk, Hon. Stephen Glickman, District of Columbia Court of Appeals (2016-2017); Student Attorney, Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School (2015-2016); Law Intern, New Hampshire Public Defender (2015); Legal Intern, Equal Justice Initiative (2015); Law Clerk, Trial Division, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (2014); President and Founder, Harvard Law School Student Mental Health Association (2013-2016).
Harvard Law School, J.D., 2016; Harvard College, A.B., cum laude, 2012.
Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2022-present); Law Student, Challenging Mass Incarceration Clinic, Yale Law School (2020-2022); Legal Intern, Center for Children’s Advocacy Medical-Legal Partnership Program (2021-2022); Summer Legal Intern, Juvenile Law Center (2021); Summer Law Clerk, D.C. Public Defender Service’s Juvenile Services Program (2020); Law Student Intern, Re-Entry Clinic, New Haven Legal Assistance Association (2019); Research Analyst (previously Assistant), Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center (2017-2019); Associate Policy Fellow, Connecticut Voices for Children (2016-2017).
Yale Law School, J.D., 2022; Wesleyan University, B.A., 2016
Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2021¬–present); Associate, Gelber & Santillo PLLC (2020–2021); Law Clerk, Hon. Robert A. Katzmann, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2019–2020); Law Clerk, Hon. Jed S. Rakoff, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2018–2019); Staff Attorney Fellow, Center for Appellate Litigation (2016–2018); Student Advocate, Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic, New York University School of Law (2016); Legal Intern, New York Legal Assistance Group, LGBTQ Law Project (2016); Legal Intern, Innocence Project, Strategic Litigation Unit (2015); Legal Intern, ACLU Voting Rights Project (2015); Legal Intern, Center for Appellate Litigation (2015); Student Advocate, Family Defense Clinic, New York University School of Law (2014–2015).
New York University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, Arthur Garfield Hays Fellow, 2016; McGill University, B.A., First Class Honours, 2012.
Senior Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2019-present); Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2016-2019); Staff Attorney, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2014-16); Intern, New York County Defender Services (2012-13); Intern, Federal Defenders of San Diego (2013); Research Assistant, Professor Anthony Thompson (2013); Student Advocate, Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic (2012); Intern, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Nashville, TN (2012); Summer Associate, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP (2012)
New York University Law School, J.D., 2014; University of Louisville, M.A., 2010; Belmont University, B.A., 2007.
Supervising Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2022–present); Senior Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2019–2022); Staff Attorney, Office of the Appellate Defender (2017-2019); Assistant Counsel (previously, Fried Frank Fellow), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (2015–2017); Associate (LDF Fellow), Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (2012–2014); Law Clerk, Hon. Beverly B. Martin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2011–2012); Law Clerk, Hon. Eldon E. Fallon, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (2010–2011); Summer Law Clerk, LGBT & AIDS Project, American Civil Liberties Union (2009); Student Advocate, Employment Civil Rights Clinic, WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School (2009); Clinical Intern, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the Boston Bar Association (2008); Summer Law Clerk, Victor M. Glasberg & Associates (2008).
Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2010; Stanford University, B.A., with honors and with distinction, 2004.
Client Services
Clients Services Coordinator, Office of the Appellate Defender (2021-present); Social Work Intern, Federal Defenders of New York, Eastern District (2020-2021); Social Work Intern, Power of Two (2019-2020)
Columbia University School of Social Work, MSW, 2021; University of California, San Diego, BS, 2019
Brian Davis | Client Services Coordinator
Operations
Alan Litwa | Paralegal
OAD Office Manager Nov 2022 – Present
Good Shepherds Services, Office Manager, Nov 2021 -Oct 2022
Start Treatment & Recovery Administrative Assistant Dec 2016- Oct 2021
Palladia Inc Office Manager /Administrative Assistant 2003 -2008
BMCC - AA
UOPX - BSB/MG, CERT/MGMT, MHA/MBA
Staff Not Yet Pictured
Damien Knox | Paralegal
Daniel Schumeister | Senior Staff Attorney
Elizabeth Loebman | Client Services Director
Linda Gehron | Contract Attorney
Linda Mahabir | Paralegal
Marcia Pelaez | Administrative Assistant/Translator
Ronald Zapata | Senior Staff Attorney
Taylor Napolitano | Supervising Attorney
Tiare Arroyo | Paralegal