Akiva Shapiro Discusses Arguing Three Appeals in Nine Days with the New York Law Journal
In the Media | September 25, 2025
New York Law Journal
Partner Akiva Shapiro recently argued three appeals at the intersection of administrative law and important public-policy matters — two in state court, one in federal — and he did so within a tight nine-day window, as he described in an interview with the New York Law Journal [PDF].
Two of the appeals were challenges to the New York State government’s controversial conversion of a multi-billion dollar Medicaid program, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, from about 600 fiscal intermediaries to just one, and to the State’s selection of a winning bidder. The third appeal fights for the 13,000-seat open-air Forest Hills Stadium in Queens — historic site of the Beatles’ first stadium concert — to continue holding concerts against opposition from a nearby homeowners’ association. The stadium hosts more than 30 A-list concerts annually.
To prepare for pivoting quickly from one appeal to the next, Akiva spent more than a month meeting regularly with three separate Gibson Dunn teams. Akiva told the NYLJ that his familiarity with the laws at hand and his handling of the cases in the lower courts gave him the confidence to handle all three appeals and made him “the right person for the job.”
Akiva is Chair of the firm’s New York Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group and a member of our Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group.