The Legal Aid Society filed a coalitional amicus brief at the New York Court of Appeals in support of litigation seeking public access to the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) memoranda written for judges. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) filed a Freedom of Information Law request for these memoranda following a leaked memo in 2021, which revealed that OCA had provided guidance to judges instructing them to narrowly interpret a recent landmark decision that expanded the rights of defendants in criminal court. This lawsuit stems from OCA’s denial of NYCLU’s FOIL request on the grounds that it was overbroad and that the guidance sought is privileged.

In our brief, we argued that OCA memoranda distributed to judges should be made public. First, the memoranda do not fall within the scope of any attorney-client privilege and, even if the court were to find that such privilege exists, the strong public policy considerations of ensuring equal access to justice and effective representation require their disclosure. We highlighted stories and examples of the ways in which the release of OCA memoranda has supported our clients’ understanding of the rationale behind judicial decisions and allowed our attorneys’ to more effectively litigate on their behalf.

In October 2025, the Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division's finding that OCA has blanket attorney-client privilege with all judges in the UCS on the record. The Court remitted the case to Supreme Court to assess whether OCA's assertion of this privilege applied to any specific documents, including by in camera review as necessary.