The NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings: Forty-Five Years of Delivering Impartial Adjudications and Providing Access to Justice

by Asim Rehman*

Volume 46 Issue 3

The full text of this article may be downloaded by clicking on the PDF link.

It was an honor to deliver the 2024 Uri and Caroline Bauer Memorial Lecture at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and to follow in the footsteps of the many legal luminaries who have delivered this lecture before. Given their chosen professions, it may be fair to assume that Uri Bauer was a believer in the rule of law and Caroline Bauer was a believer in government. Accordingly, I would like to talk about those two topics as they relate to the work of the New York City Office of Administrative Trials & Hearings (OATH). First, after a general refresher on administrative law in cities and a brief overview of OATH, I would like to detail OATH’s fascinating history. Many people know what city agencies do, but how many of us know how they got started? Next, I will explore how, as an agency that is part of the executive branch, OATH remains an impartial tribunal. Lastly, I will examine the various ways that OATH takes steps to level the playing field and promotes access to justice in New York City.

* Chief Administrative Law Judge and Commissioner, New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). A very special thanks to the current and former OATH and New York City staff who reviewed and provided guidance for this Article. The memorialization of OATH’s history would not have been possible without their input and guidance. I would also like to recognize OATH Law Clerk Carl Raffa’s exceptional efforts with the Article’s research and citations. Lastly, my deepest admiration and gratitude to the hardworking staff at OATH. They are the source of OATH’s success, the protectors of OATH’s mission, and the reason that we have greater access to justice in New York City.