Constitutional Law Attorneys

Situated in Albany in close proximity to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, as well as the trial and intermediate-level New York State courts and the Northern District of New York federal courthouse, we have a long history of raising challenges to governmental action on constitutional grounds. We frequently litigate issues relating to separation of powers, federal/state relations, due process, equal protection and other constitutional principles.

In Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce Inc. v. Pataki, 100 N.Y.2d 801 (2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1017 (2003), we successfully challenged the Governor’s unilateral action in approving an Indian gaming Tribal-State Compact without legislative authorization on the grounds that such major policy determinations are the province of the Legislature, not the Governor.

In Wavecrest v. Novello, we mounted a successful due process challenge on behalf of adult care facilities faced with the “stigma-plus” flowing from adverse allegations in Department of Health inspection reports. In response to the New York State Supreme Court’s direction, the Department of Health instituted a process through which facility operators can request an informal “inspection review” meeting to challenge such findings in advance of their publication on the agency’s website.

Please contact Cornelius Murray in our Albany office for more information.