Cory Morris

Named a Superlawyer, Cory Morris is admitted to practice in New York State, the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of New York. He is also admitted to practice law in Florida State. He was named top 40 under 40 by the Long Island Business News and named top 30 under 30 by the Huntington Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Morris is an advocate for equality, civil rights and social justice within the legal community. In recognition of this, Mr. Morris is the recipient of an Equality Award at the Suffolk County New York Civil Liberties Union 50th Anniversary Gala and the New York State Bar Empire Justice Award for Pro Bono work. He is focused on helping people charged with a crime, regardless of the allegations, and helping people vindicate their rights to be free from unreasonable government intrusion and excessive force. The Law Offices of Cory H. Morris focuses on helping individuals facing addiction and criminal issues, accidents and injuries, and, lastly, accountability issues. 

Mr. Morris is familiar with the issues surrounding Long Island and has an advanced background in psychology, serving as an Adjunct at Adelphi University. He attended college on Long Island, starting at Nassau Community College, obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Adelphi University in 2008 and his Master’s Degree from Adelphi’s Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies in 2010. During his graduate degree, his concentration was on forensic psychology, substance abuse, and impulsive disorders. He obtained an assistantship with Dr. Larry Josephs, was published in the Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories and contributed to Adelphi’s scholarship, working with a doctoral student and post-doctoral professor in developing his thesis titled “Impulsivity in the form of Suicidality in Borderline Personality Disorder.”

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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Currently on appeal, 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 Respondents producing a report regarding the sale of the historic St. James Fire House. Upon release of the report and consistent with the contents within that report, the voters rejected  the proposed sale of the firehouse. The matter is on appeal to determine whether the Supreme Court, inter alia, appropriately denied an award of reasonable attorney's fees and utilized the appropriate standard of review on a motion to dismiss an Article 78 petition seeking the release of public records.

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)." 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."