LITIGATION TRACKER
Featured Litigation
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Gould v. The City of New York
A landmark class action against the City of New York, alleging that the City’s Administration for Children’s Services routinely uses highly coercive tactics to illegally search tens of thousands of families’ homes each year in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Learn more
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Matter of Sapphire W. / Matter of A.R.
FJLC won critical appeals in the New York Appellate Division, First and Second Departments, ending the longstanding and illegal practice of placing survivors of domestic violence under surveillance when they have been accused of no wrongdoing. Learn more
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Fraser v. NYC Dep't of Education
A federal civil rights lawsuit against the New York City Department of Education (DOE) alleging that the NYC DOE regularly retaliates against parents who challenge inadequate educational services for their disabled children by making false calls to the Administration for Children’s Services. Learn more
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K.W. v. The City of New York
A federal appeal challenging an unconstitutional family separation. When K.A. was just six days old, the Administration for Children’s Services separated him from the custody of his father, K.W., without a court order and without allowing K.W. to say goodbye. K.W. was never alleged or found to be an unfit parent. K.A. was held in non-kinship foster care for over two years. Learn more
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Poe et al. v. Harris-Madden et al.
A federal class action lawsuit against the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for violating due process by forcing parents to wait many months or sometimes years to appeal their indicated reports on the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR), leaving many unable to work with children or care for relatives. Learn more.
ALL CASES
Poe et al. v. Harris-Madden et al.
Filed February 2026
A federal class action lawsuit against the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for violating the due process guarantees of the U.S. Constitution by forcing parents to wait many months or sometimes years to appeal their indicated reports on the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR), leaving many unable to work with children or care for relatives.
Fraser v. New York City Department of Education
Filed January 2026
A federal civil rights lawsuit against the New York City Department of Education (DOE) alleging that the NYC DOE regularly retaliates against parents who challenge inadequate educational services for their disabled children by making false calls to ACS.
Baptiste Hernandez v. Administrative Judge Leann Michael
Filed September 2025
An appeal asking the Second Department to find that when a person commences an action against the State, and the State moots the action by providing the relief sought, that person is entitled to recover attorneys' fees under the theory that their lawsuit was the "catalyst" for the favorable State action. Here, Ms. Baptiste Hernandez "catalyzed" the State to finally issue a decision—after 18 months of delay—on her Fair Hearing regarding several indicated reports on the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment.
Family Justice Law Center v. Administration for Children’s Services
Filed September 2025
A lawsuit against the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to compel the agency to provide information and data about how the agency separates children from their families.
Matter of Liam M.
Filed August 2025
Ms. C., a survivor of domestic violence, had never been alleged or found to be an unfit parent. Nevertheless, ACS sought, and the family court granted, a dispositional order authorizing unlimited ACS supervision of Ms. C. and her home. This surveillance lasted for well over a year.
Opening Brief
Oral argument, New York Appellate Division, First Department (begins at 2:22:20)
Matter of Parker J.
Filed August 2025
New York’s highest court ruled for the first time that parents' right to assigned counsel in Family Court proceedings necessarily encompasses the right to effective assistance of counsel. FJLC filed an amicus brief in this case.
Decision
Amicus Brief
The Imprint news coverage: ‘We Cannot Throw the Constitution in the Garbage:’ NY High Court Defends Parents’ Right to Effective Lawyers
K.W. v. The City of New York
Filed April 2025
When K.A. was just six days old, ACS separated him from the custody of his father, K.W., without a court order and without allowing K.W. to say goodbye. K.W. was never alleged or found to be an unfit parent. And yet K.A. was held in non-kinship foster care for over two years.
FJLC v. New York State Office of Court Administration
Filed February 2025
A lawsuit against the New York Office of Court Administration (OCA) to compel the agency to provide memos and directives from family court judges about scheduling emergency child removal hearings. These materials are critical for advocates to understand and remedy the longstanding problem of delays in emergency child removal hearings, to minimize the consequences of prolonged and unwarranted family separation.
Matter of Lukas B.
Filed January 2025
A motion for leave to the New York Court of Appeals challenging the practice of imposing a duty upon a prospective father to control his pregnant partner’s drug use.
Motion for Leave to Appeal
The Imprint news coverage: A Former Children’s Attorney Explains Why Advocates are Urging NY’s Highest Court to Stop Penalizing Fathers Over Partners’ Drug Use
Matter of A.R.
Filed December 2024
In July 2025, FJLC won a landmark case in the First Department ending the longstanding and illegal practice of placing survivors of domestic violence under surveillance when they have been accused of no wrongdoing.
Matter of Emmanuel C.F.
Filed August 2024
In August 2024, FJLC filed an amicus brief in support of parents whose hearing had taken nearly 10 months and presented oral argument in front of the New York Appellate Division, First Department. The First Department ordered that family courts must conduct such hearings “expeditiously.”
Decision
Amicus Brief
Oral Argument New York Appellate Division, First Department (begins at 24:50)
Gould v. The City of New York
Filed February 2024
A landmark class action against the City of New York, alleging that the City’s Administration for Children’s Services routinely uses highly coercive tactics to illegally search tens of thousands of families’ homes each year in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Matter of Sapphire W.
Filed December 2023
In February 2025, FJLC won a landmark case in the Second Department ending the longstanding and illegal practice of placing survivors of domestic violence under surveillance when they have been accused of no wrongdoing.
FJLC v. New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Filed March 2026
FJLC filed Freedom of Information Law requests with OCFS, seeking details about the delays plaguing the appeals process. OCFS responded by repeatedly stalling, ignoring portions of our requests, and providing flawed data. Along with pro-bono counsel Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, FJLC filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court to compel OCFS to produce these records.