October 28, 2009

Paul, Weiss Achieves Pro Bono Appellate Victory

Paul, Weiss obtained an extremely important victory for its pro bono client Kimberly Hurell-Harring on October 22, as reported on the cover of the October 27 New York Law Journal. Mrs. Hurell-Harring, a nurse and mother of two, was charged with a felony for bringing a small amount of marijuana to her husband in prison. Having pled guilty on the advice of her (then) public defender, she served six months in prison for this "felony," despite the fact that the New York Court of Appeals has made it clear that bringing small amounts of marijuana into a prison cannot constitute a felony and is merely a misdemeanor. The Paul, Weiss team challenged Mrs. Hurell-Harring's conviction on grounds of due process and ineffective assistance of counsel. The Third Department of the New York State Appellate Division agreed, holding that the act Mrs. Hurell-Harring committed did not constitute a felony and vacating her conviction. As a result, Mrs. Hurell-Harring will have a "clean record," will no longer be on probation, and will be able to recover her nursing position, which she had lost as a result of the prior conviction. Lead partner Roberta Kaplan was quoted in the Law Journal , saying the case was an "opportunity to do justice" and it "shows what kind of difference it makes to have counsel who zealously represent their clients' interest and counsel who don't." The Paul, Weiss team also included partner Andrew Ehrlich and associates Michael Berger and Satyam Bee. Paul, Weiss will also be assisting in a related pro bono class action, Hurrell-Harring, et al. v. State of New York, brought by the NYCLU and now before the Court of Appeals, challenging the adequacy of the representation provided by the current New York State public defender system because of what happens to individuals like Mrs. Hurell-Harring.