Victory for Charter School in New York State Supreme Court

Paul, Weiss obtained victory on behalf of Brooklyn Success Academy4Charter School in New York State Supreme Court. On June 1, Justice Peter H. Moulton dismissed an Article 78 proceeding against the charter school, the SUNY Board of Trustees and the NYC Board of Education brought by elected officials, parents of district school students and a parent advocacy group.

After failing to obtain a temporary restraining order enjoining a Panel on Education Policy vote to co-locate the charter school with another public school in Williamsburg, the petitioners sought to revoke the school's charter based on allegations that the school did not provide SUNY with sufficient evidence of public outreach and meaningful community input in its charter application as required under law. Justice Moulton concluded that the proceeding was time-barred under Article 78's four-month statute of limitations. He further held that the petition lacked merit because the charter school conducted sufficient outreach, including sending letters to elected officials, obtaining thousands of petition signatures and sending representatives to community meetings; on the basis of this outreach, the SUNY Trustees' decision to issue the school a charter could not be deemed arbitrary and capricious.

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partners Ted Wells and Dave Brown and associates Corey Callahan, David Kessler, Jake Lillywhite, Ralia Polechronis and Davin Rosborough.