Author: Marlo Cordo

On Tuesday, March 18^th, 2019 the Law and Paralegals club here at New York City College of Technology organized a field trip to the New York State Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals is located at 20 Eagle Street, Albany, N.Y. 12207. This court is located at our state’s capital.

I traveled with about 25 upcoming paralegal students on U.S. Coachways bus to Albany. Our mission is to visit the NYS Court of Appeals and sit in on an appeal. We are looking to grasp a better understanding of how laws passed in our country and gain insight while we are observing oral arguments.

I arrived at the court house around 1:30 pm. We went through security check in and it was pretty customary. Then I had the opportunity to meet Deputy Chief of Security Ron Gadson who then walked Nicole, Abigail and I to the entrance of the court room. He then handed us a souvenir and allowed us into the court room to observe and take pictures. The court room was very elegant with bright red carpeting. It had a powerful feel to it along with the very elaborate chandeliers dangling. There were portraits of the court of appeals judges around the room. The judges’ pictures go up on the wall when they leave their term.

Next, they opened the court room up for the lawyers to enter the room. There were two attorneys for each side. First, the lawyers entered and took their seats upfront in front of the panel judges. Then the seven judges walked out through a door directly behind their bench and sat down. The court officers then asked us all to rise and seven judges took the stand. All of the judges were eye level even the Chief Judge Janet DiFiore who sat directly in the middle. The court officer shouted “Hear ye, hear ye”. It felt like it was out of a movie. Then they introduced the cases to the court room.

I was very impressed at the court room and how the proceeding was organized. What surprised me was the Chief Judge of NYS Court of Appeals, the highest appellate court in New York State, acknowledged New York City College of Technology and welcomed Professor Espinoza and the upcoming paralegal students to her court room. It felt like an honor to be part of it and to be addressed as a paralegal felt even better. I was proud to be there. I chose the court of appeals to view a proceeding because it’s the highest court in NYS and was very interested in experiencing an appeal in my state’s capital were the magic happens.

Finally, it was time to start the appeals. There were three appeals being argued. The first two appeals were a matter of National Energy Markets Association v. N.Y.S Public Service Commission. And then the second appeal was a matter of Retail Energy Supply Association vs. Public Service Commission of NYS. And thirdly, the appeal was about People v. Boris Brown. The first two cases were about their findings in 2016, after finding that the Energy Service Companies, (ESCO’s) were generally charging their customers higher rates than the regulated utilities were charging. The Public Service Commission of NYS (PSC) issued a Reset Order governing gas and electric service for residential and small commercial customers to guarantee that customers will pay no more than a full service customer would. The last appeal was about a murder of a 17-year-old child named Cheyenne Baez. This case is about the potential conflict of interest regarding Browns attorney. The police quickly focused on three suspects Boris Brown, Devon Coughman and Ahmed Salaam who had been at the scene together. Salaam hired a lawyer Jeffrey Chabrowe to defend Brown in the murder case and paid his fees. Then Salaam was arrested in an unrelated fraud case, Salaam hired Chabrowe to defend him against criminal charges. The court told Brown, “There would be a problem that your lawyer would have to cross-examine someone else that he represents on an unrelated matter.” This was definitely a conflict.

I highly suggest to go ahead and experience your state capital viewing an appeal at the NYS Court of appeals. It left me with a professional view on how the court does business and how the appeals court operates regarding applying the law and expressing legal arguments. I enjoyed every minute. Good luck on your observation!