Secure Admission to the New York State Bar for an 84 year old client.
N/AOUTCOME: Succesful
In 1996, I won a highly publicized case before the highest court in New York State, the Court of Appeals. The matter received significant coverage in the New York Times and the New York Law Journal. I ... was able to secure admission to the New York State Bar and the right for my client, an 84 year old man, to practice law after having been denied the right over 50 years ago. In 1944, an appellate court rejected his application because as a leader of an extreme right-wing group called the Christian Front, the court said he urged the overthrow of the Government of the United States. Though Mr. Cassidy had been tried and acquitted of treason in the early 40's, the court said that he did not have the requisite character to be an attorney. It was clear that his due process rights were violated during the hearings in the 1940's and that the courts at that time disagreed with his beliefs. Hearings were held while my client was off fighting World War II by the committee responsible for making the determination on the character of potential lawyers, thus giving him no opportunity to confront and cross examine witnesses against him. I was able to have the case reopened and, after 50 years, I was successful in obtaining his admission to the Bar as an attorney.
