Carter Ledyard partner Alan Lewis, chair of the firm’s Internal Investigations and White Collar Defense practice and First Amendment and Media Law practice, was quoted in Law360 on the vacancy on the NY State Court of Appeals, soon to be filled by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Alan, who chairs the Judicial Screening Committee for the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told Law360 the NYSACDL hopes Gov. Hochul will pick a candidate with criminal defense experience, which will help correct a crucial imbalance in the court’s composition. Alan commented, in an endorsement to selecting public defenders Timothy P. Murphy and Corey L. Stoughton, “We’re confident that Gov. Hochul will recognize the unparalleled excellence of Mr. Murphy and Ms. Stoughton as candidates for this position, as well as the fact that by appointing either of them, Gov. Hochul can begin to redress the current imbalance that results from having several former prosecutors and no former criminal defense lawyers sitting as judges on our state’s high court.”
Alan also recently wrote a piece for the New York Law Journal on why criminal defense is critically important on the Court of Appeals, which can be read here.