Law Matters: A Conversation With Professor Martin J. LaFalce

Earlier this year, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Professor Martin J. LaFalce to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary (MACJ). Professor LaFalce, a former Legal Aid Society public defender who now directs the Law School’s in-house Defense and Advocacy Clinic, previously served on the MACJ by designation of the Law School’s former dean, Michael A. Simons. In this installment of Law Matters, Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum talks with Professor LaFalce about his return to the MACJ and how his work as a public defender and Clinic director informs his teaching and public service.

What does this opportunity to serve on the MACJ as a mayoral appointee mean to you, and how will it build on your past MACJ service?

I’m honored to serve on MACJ as a mayoral appointee. The committee plays a vital role in reviewing candidates who will preside in New York City’s civil, criminal, and family courts. Our decisions have an enormous impact on the lives of New Yorkers. The people we consider for appointment and reappointment may decide whether families in crisis remain united, whether children stay in foster care, or whether New Yorkers charged with crimes remain at liberty or get sent to Rikers Island. I take that responsibility very seriously. During my first round of service as a dean appointee, I was impressed by the diversity of perspectives committee members brought to the task and the deference the mayor gave to our judgments. This time, I believe that the administration has chosen an exceptional group whose members bring a wealth of experience from New York’s legal community. I’m thrilled to be in conversation with them.

How has your experience as a public defender shaped your perspective on the MACJ’s important work?

For the first three years of my career, I reported to Rikers Island every day, representing clients charged with violating the conditions of their parole. I’ve seen the dorms and the cells where New Yorkers are held, the areas where they are punished by the Department of Correction, and the housing units for people with mental health diagnoses. I’ve eaten the food served to incarcerated people. Those experiences directly inform my service on the committee. I know the decisions we make will have an impact on who lands in jail, subject to conditions that have persisted for decades.

In what ways does your work in the Defense and Advocacy Clinic inform your work with the MACJ?

Our clinic works in Queens Criminal Court representing clients charged with misdemeanor offenses. Many of our clients are immigrants, most have been arrested for the first time, and all are indigent. As the students’ supervisor, I see how judges treat our clients—whether they show compassion, respect, and competence or fall short of those expectations. We also see how judges interpret New York’s bail and discovery laws and how those decisions help or harm our struggling clients. For example, judges make decisions that affect whether evidence is shared and whether clients who need housing or mental health support are offered alternatives to incarceration. Seeing how judges and the criminal legal system operate day to day naturally informs my MACJ service.

You have been an advocate for legislative reform in New York’s criminal legal system. How does that advocacy work influence your perspective as an educator?

My advocacy work has shown me that dedicated student advocates and lawyers can alter the course of an individual client’s case. But students can also use their experience in the Clinic—and as public interest lawyers—to shape policy that impacts thousands of clients. Students may choose to litigate an issue that recurs in many cases, like the extent to which a police officer’s disciplinary records can be obtained and used in cases. Or they may choose to share a client’s experience with a legislator’s office to help inform decisions about making laws and setting budgets. In both cases—individual client representation and policy advocacy—students can have a lasting impact.

What do you hope students will take away from your demonstrated commitment to public service in the city St. John’s Law calls home?

I hope they take away that rigorous advocacy can change lives and overhaul systems. So many of our neighbors facing deportation, incarceration, eviction, or family separation need the help of a great lawyer. I tell our students that there’s no more meaningful use of a law degree than advocating for a client in crisis. I’m honored to work with so many students who plan to dedicate their careers to those clients.