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Mr. Morris graduated Touro College at the top of his class, was a Dean’s List recipient and received both the David A. Berg Public Interest Fellowship and the Howard Glickstein Public Interest Fellowship. He served as President of the American Civil Liberties Union student group, vice president of the criminal justice society at Touro College and was a member of Touro’s International Law Review. He also participated in the Center for Restorative Practices, the Unemployment Action Center, and other student groups and public interest organizations. During his tenure at Touro College, he volunteered with both the Mississippi Center for Justice and with Malik Rahim’s Common Ground organization in Louisiana. He successfully helped nearly a dozen unemployment claimants at administrative hearings, receiving an award for outstanding advocate, helped high school students facing school suspension hearings, and worked as a live chat operator to help low-income New Yorkers obtain free legal services and representation from pro bono attorneys. He is also the recipient of several awards for pro bono legal services as well as the Brian Lord Memorial Award for his demonstrated commitment to public interest. 

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School Accountability: After a much litigated motion to dismiss in D.W.M. et al. v. St. Mary School, et al., 2:18-cv-03099 (DRH–AKT), The Honorable Judge Denis. R. Hurley Ordered that, among others, the Hostile Educational Environment survived against a private school. The Judge wrote that “While Courts should not second-guess school administrators’ disciplinary decisions, this does not give the School Defendants carte blanche to fail to take any meaningful action in response to a disturbing racial attack that supposedly threatened violence...” The case was featured on the front page of the New York Law Journal and this office continues to seek justice for the Moore Family.

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The office also successfully opposed a School District's motion to hide surveillance footage capturing a school-incident, the choking of a student by a security guard, vis-a-vis a protective Order in Edmond v. Longwood CSD et al, 2:16-cv-02871-JFB-AYS, Document 55 (EDNY 04/17/17), a case where the Court found that "The District Defendants have provided this Court with no independent factual basis, nor case law, to issue a protective order other than the spectre that Plaintiffs may release the footage to the public." 

 

Government Accountability: After an appeal that was unsuccessful in the release of attorney's fees, the Matter of Rosasco v. St James Fire District et al (Sup. Court, Suffolk County), was a successful (Freedom of Information Law, FOIL) social justice litigation which resulted in the release of records - Respondents producing a report (not released prior to the proposed sale or to the public without litigation) - regarding the sale of the historic St. James Fire House that led to the firehouse becoming historic and sought to be preserved by voters. Upon release of the report and consistent with the contents within that report, the voters rejected  the proposed sale of the firehouse. Touted as a victory by the corporate firm hired and paid by the fire district, the fire house was not sold - it stands despite this enormous effort - and, albeit the Respondents had to pay the corporate firm, this law office was unable to recover attorney's fees and, thus, the matter remained a pro bono litigation in the public interest.

 

A notable victory was In the Matter of Law Offices of Cory H. Morris, appellant, v County of Nassau, et al., respondents, a decision which held, inter alia, "to the extent that a TPVA record concerns the nonadjudicatory responsibilities of the TPVA, it is not exempt from disclosure under the definition of “agency” in Public Officers Law § 86(3)."

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Regarding Police Misconduct Records, the Law Offices of Cory H. Morris was featured in various news outlets for our pro bono efforts and work towards increasing the access to governmental records through FOIL, New York's Freedom information law as further discussed at CourtHouse News: https://www.courthousenews.com/police-disciplinary-records-face-spotlight-in-nycs-latest-reform-push/

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The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information issued a press release together with MuckRock stating that "In a letter accompanying each freedom-of-information request, New York attorney Cory Morris puts the agencies on notice that the records are potentially the subject of legal action and cannot be destroyed. As we approach the two (2) year mark, this office has filed multiple lawsuits to obtain Police Misconduct Records, some of which are still pending.

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MuckRock is hosting the requests and responses on its website, where the progress of each request is viewable by creating a free account. A coalition of news organizations is being assembled to follow up on the requests and analyze the findings."

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Cory Morris and others founded the Non-For-Profit The Institute for Access to Public Information, which provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, educational workshops, and other legal resources to help news organizations and the public gain access to government records on Long Island. (www.FOIA-FOIL.com). 

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In a notable victory to obtain the release of police misconduct records in the City of Middletown, the Law Offices of Cory H. Morris assisted Kenneth Puig, an attorney, in obtaining the release of records although (as in Matter of Rosasco) the lower court(s) remain recalcitrant in awarding attorneys fees for these litigations under the Freedom of Information Law. Without the award of attorney's fees, these agencies that violate the law are without accountability. The Police Misconduct Records in the City of Middletown are now released and the appeal, like Rosasco, has to do with whether us attorneys should be compensated for our time in litigating FOIL lawsuits in the public interest in the fashion of private attorney general as intended by the lawmakers and touted among the legal profession as commendable pursuits.

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