Jenna Hymowitz

Jenna Hymowitz is a senior staff attorney at Appellate Advocates in New York City, where the organization has its office in lower Manhattan. She first worked with Appellate Advocates as a law-school intern. Her internships also included the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice.

At New York University School of Law, Hymowitz combined her studies with work as a student attorney in two clinics: the Juvenile Defender Clinic and the Federal Defender Clinic. She was an executive editor of the New York University Law Review and a member of the Prisoners’ Rights and Education Project. She earned her law degree at NYU and holds a political science B.A. from Duke University, magna cum laude.

Her appellate work includes representing Salvatore Matera through Appellate Advocates in People v. Matera. That appeal concerned a drug-possession conviction and a change made to the charging document just before trial: prosecutors replaced an allegation involving oxycodone with one involving fentanyl. The trial court allowed the change despite Matera’s objection. On appeal, the prosecution agreed that this amendment violated CPL 100.45 (3) and that the conviction should be reversed. In its March 25, 2022 decision, the Appellate Term reversed the conviction and dismissed the charging instrument. The court cited both the prosecution’s concession and Matera’s having already served his sentence when explaining its decision to dismiss in the interest of justice.