New York’s highest court didn’t shy away from reshaping certain civil laws during its 2023-24 term, an expert panel of appellate litigators told a key downstate bar association educational program.

During the term, the New York Court of Appeals decided weighty civil cases on everything from giving law enforcement the green light to investigate cold cases by looking at DNA profiles of close family members already in a state database to allowing a lawsuit to proceed that accuses New York City’s property taxation system of unduly burdening low-income neighborhoods and communities where mostly people of color reside.