Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) held its 25th annual First Monday in October event on Oct. 1 at NYU School of Law. Almost 500 members of the NYC legal community attended, helping to raise critical funds that support OAD’s mission of providing exceptional, holistic and client-centered representation to poor people convicted of felonies. This year, arguments were presented in Madison v. Alabama, a case that asks whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of a prisoner who has no memory of the offense for which he has been condemned to death.

Above, from left, are event honorees Teresa Wynn Roseborough, recipient of the OAD Counsel for Justice Award; former U.S. Solicitor General Don Verrilli, recipient of the Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy; Khalil Cumberbatch, recipient of the inaugural OAD Beacon of Hope Award; OAD president & attorney-in-charge Christina Swarns; Lisa Blatt, recipient of the Gould Award for Out-standing Oral Advocacy; and Steven Reiss of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, recipient of the inaugural OAD Gideon Award.