In “Rulings From NYC’s Administrative Law Court To Be Published In the Law Journal,” Commissioner and Chief Administrative Law Judge Asim Rehman announced that the New York Law Journal will publish New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) decisions from its Trials Division. Having defended against New York City civil prosecution in thousands of OATH hearings, I applaud this effort, though I think, respectfully, that it is insufficient or misleading.
As Rehman noted, in 2023, OATH issued more than “220,000 hearings” decisions, far more than the “625 trials” decisions. Thus, if a purpose of publishing OATH’s decisions is to share “the impact of [OATH’s] decisions” that “affect many aspects of everyday life in New York City,” then the Law Journal should arguably publish OATH Hearings Division’s decisions, or, at minimum, OATH Appeals Division’s decisions (“close to 2,500 appeals decisions related to those hearings” issued in 2023), which more accurately reflect OATH and how its decisions impact the average New Yorker.
