Experienced Housing Law Attorney Casey Weissman-Vermeulen Joins Syracuse Law as Housing Clinic Director

Casey Weissman-Vermeulen has joined Syracuse University College of Law as an Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the Housing Clinic. He will teach the housing clinic course in addition to supervising student attorneys participating in the Housing Clinic.

“Director Weissman-Vermeulen will bring several years of experience in housing law and representation of low-income residents facing profound housing issues,” says Professor Elizabeth Kubala, Executive Director of Clinical Legal Education at Syracuse Law. “He is ideally suited to serve our housing clients and provide our students with the clinical education and direction necessary to be effective student attorneys.”

Prior to joining Syracuse Law, Weissman-Vermeulen was a staff attorney at CNY Fair Housing, Inc., a Syracuse-based fair housing advocacy and enforcement organization that serves residents across Central and Northern New York. At CNY Fair Housing, Weissman-Vermeulen litigated a variety of cases in federal and state court and before government agencies. He also contributed to the organization’s policy work, helping to research and draft reports on barriers to affordable housing opportunities for minority and low-income households in the Syracuse area.

From 2012 to 2019 he worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. where he was an attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Fair Housing Enforcement Division. There, he worked on a variety of fair housing investigations and enforcement actions, assisted in drafting fair housing regulations and guidance, and contributed to government briefs in cases raising important questions of statutory interpretation under the Fair Housing Act. 

Weissman-Vermeulen previously held several legal positions in non-profit organizations and local government in North Carolina.

“Syracuse Law’s Housing Clinic provides desperately needed legal representation to low-income families facing eviction and other serious housing problems,” says Weissman-Vermeulen. “Research confirms that having a lawyer improves housing court outcomes for tenants, yet all too often tenants have no choice but to go to court without one. I am excited to have the opportunity to advance the Housing Clinic’s efforts to expand access to housing-related legal services while teaching student attorneys how to manage all aspects of their clients’ cases. My hope is that through their work in the clinic – from conducting initial client interviews, to investigating facts, to successfully advocating on behalf of their clients in negotiations, written legal filings, and the courtroom – students will develop an appreciation both of how important and how rewarding housing law practice can be.”

Weissman-Vermeulen earned a J.D. and a Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina and a B.S. in natural resources from Cornell University.

In its first semester, the Housing Clinic represented approximately two dozen Syracuse area residents in rental housing matters.  Student attorneys successfully defended several evictions and negotiated favorable outcomes.  Some clients received additional time to look for new housing, while other clients had landlord claims for back rent reduced or eliminated.  The student attorneys also advised other tenants on housing condition issues and filed several actions to recover security deposits. 

The Housing Clinic is underwritten by a grant from Legal Services of Central New York and the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, which received additional New York State funding under the Tenant Dignity and Safe Housing Act.

The College of Law offers students a choice of seven legal clinics: the Bankruptcy Clinic, the Betty & Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, the Criminal Defense Clinic, the Housing Clinic, the Syracuse Medical-Legal Partnership, the Sherman F. Levey ’57, L’59 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, and the Transactional Law Clinic.