is committed to pro bono work to help make the legal system work for all and to support the professional development and personal fulfillment of our attorneys. We encourage our lawyers to pursue the pro bono work most meaningful to them their passions have fostered broad involvement in such areas as political asylum, LGBT rights, housing and homelessness, criminal trials and appeals, service to nonprofit groups and microentrepreneurs, and more. 1177 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212.715.9100 www.kramerlevin.com NEW YORK n SILICON VALLEY n PARIS
1177 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Phone: (212) 715-7570 locations New York, NY Silicon Valley, CA Paris THE STATS No. of Attorneys: 322 No. of Offices: 3 Co-Chair: Thomas E. Constance Co-Chair: Gary P. Naftalis Hiring Partner(s): James A. Grayer Kerri Ann Law MAJOR DEPARTMENTS & PRACTICES Business Immigration Corporate Banking and Finance Bankruptcy/Creditors Rights Employee Benefits Employment Environmental Financial Services Trusts and Estates Intellectual Property Land Use Litigation White Collar Criminal Defense Real Estate Tax EMPLOYMENT CONTACT Renee Vanna Associate Director of Legal Recruiting Phone: (212) 715-9467 Email: rvanna@kramerlevin.com 353
Who s Who Does the firm have one or more pro bono coordinators and/or partners? If so, how many? 2 For each of your pro bono coordinators and/or partners, please specify how much of his/her time is spent on pro bono work and/ or administering the firm s pro bono program. Pro Bono Coordinator/Partner 1 Less than half of his/her time Pro Bono Coordinator/Partner 2 Less than half of his/her time Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. James A. Grayer Partner Phone: (212) 715-7616 Email: jgrayer@kramerlevin.com Eric A. Tirschwell Partner Phone: (212) 715-8404 Email: etirschwell@kramerlevin.com Does the firm have a pro bono committee? How often does the committee meet? Once or twice per year, but frequently consults by e-mail. Please describe the composition of the committee. Partners and associates from representative departments. THE SCOOP Does your firm have a written pro bono policy? Can associates bring pro bono matters of interest to the firm? How does the firm decide whether to take on a pro bono matter? Attorneys must clear new pro bono matters with the Co-Chairs of the Pro Bono Committee and, when the matter is novel or involves significant devotion of resources, with the full Committee or Managing Partner. Subject to conflict check, appropriate staffing, and similar issues, the firm seeks to give attorneys maximum flexibility to pursue pro bono matters of the greatest personal interest to them. Has the firm signed on to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge? What are some of the areas of law in which your firm has performed pro bono legal work since 2010? Arts and historic preservation, Asylum, Bankruptcy, Civil rights, Disability benefits, Domestic violence, Employment, Environment, Fair housing/tenants rights, Family law, First Amendment and constitutional issues, HIV/AIDS advocacy, Homeless advocacy, Immigration, Indigent criminal defense, International human rights, Nonprofit corporate law, Nonprofit incorporation/tax exemptions, Nonprofit intellectual property, Probate law, Public benefits, Real estate transactions, Social Security law, Veterans benefits/appeals, Voting rights Are there areas of law in which, as a matter of policy or practice, your firm does not perform pro bono work? No List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2010, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. South Brooklyn Legal Services Immigrant Defense Project Sanctuary For Families Human Rights First inmotion Legal Aid Society Immigration Equality Center for Constitutional Rights City Bar Veterans Assistance LAMBDA Legal Defense List up to three representative examples of your firm s pro bono matters since 2010. Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. Kramer Levin s longstanding involvement with international human rights and political asylum work dates back to the tenure of its late name partner, Judge Marvin Frankel, as Chairman of Human Rights First. Firm lawyers have obtained grants of asylum for victims of torture and persecution from many countries all around the world. In addition to Human Rights First, Kramer Levin takes referrals from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (assisting refugees of all denominations), Immigration Equality (LGBT and HIV-positive asylees), Sanctuary For Families (domestic violence-based asylum claims), and SongTsen (Tibetans fleeing persecution from the Chinese government). In 2011, Kramer Levin was one of five national law firms to be honored with Immigration Equality s annual Safe Haven Award. The Safe Haven Award is presented annually to firms for their pro bono work on behalf of Immigration Equality s 354 2012 Vault.com Inc.
LGBT clients who are seeking political asylum in the United States. As part of the firm s ongoing commitment to families unable to afford legal assistance, since 1998, Kramer Levin has assigned lawyers to South Brooklyn Legal Services for four-to-six-month stints representing low-income tenants in Housing Court on a full-time basis. Specifically, in 2011, the Kramer Levin externs represented approximately 40 tenants and provided non-representation assistance to approximately 220 individuals. Legal Services NYC honored Kramer Levin as one of its Pro Bono Visionaries for 2011 for its continued commitment to staffing a full-time Housing Court externship at South Brooklyn Legal Services. Kramer Levin works with the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund s Name Change Project to help transgender clients secure a legal name change. For many transgender people, a legal name change is a first step towards conforming their legal identities to the way they identify and live their lives. Securing a legal name change can be an intimidating experience, involving interaction with the court system and judges that is foreign to many people. Kramer Levin attorneys help clients negotiate the legal process and ultimately, move forward with their lives. List up to three pro bono matters that are highlights (e.g., a Supreme Court case). Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. Kramer Levin won asylum for a woman who fled Russia to escape persecution because she is a lesbian. Kramer Levin s client left Russia after being twice beaten because of her sexual orientation and having faced a lifetime of discrimination. The Kramer Levin team successfully convinced the Immigration Court that the persecution, threats of violence and physical attacks that its client survived made it unsafe for her to return to Russia and warranted a grant of asylum. The matter was referred to Kramer Levin by Immigration Equality, who recently recognized Kramer Levin s longstanding work on behalf of over two dozen LGBT asylees. Kramer Levin partnered with the Immigrant Defense Project in representing Mr. Oliva, a lawful resident who lived in the United States for 17 years (since age 9), but faced deportation as a result of pleading guilty to one count of marijuana possession (and accepting a $25 fine), based on his former counsel s failure to apprise him of the risk of deportation he would face should he ever travel abroad. Subsequent to this plea, Mr. Oliva was detained while travelling, facing imminent deportation. Kramer Levin successfully negotiated an agreement with the district attorney, which if approved by the Judge, will nullify the basis for Mr. Oliva s removal from the United States and allow him to retain his status as a lawful permanent resident. Most importantly, it will prevent Mr. Oliva s family in the United States all established, longtime legal residents from being irrevocably split apart. Working with the Legal Aid Society, Kramer Levin won a criminal appeal in the Appellate Division, First Department, on behalf of an indigent defendant who had been convicted on a weapons possession charge. The Appellate Division s decision, authored by Justice Rolando T. Acosta for a unanimous Panel, clarified an important point of State search-and-seizure law. The Panel agreed with Kramer Levin s argument that the DeBour/Hollman doctrine under the State Constitution applies during routine traffic stops, and that New York City police officers obtained evidence supporting the defendant s conviction in violation of DeBour/ Hollman. Accordingly, the Panel granted the defendant s motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the traffic stop and his subsequent statements during a station house interrogation, vacated the judgment of conviction and dismissed the information. The Appellate Division s decision was reported in the April 28, 2011 edition of the New York Law Journal. BY THE NUMBERS What is the total number of hours that lawyers at your U.S. office(s) spent performing pro bono legal services, as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, in 2010 and 2011? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. Total number of pro bono hours in 2010: 20,822 Total number of pro bono hours in 2011: 20,182 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s U.S. offices? Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2010: 326 Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2011: 322 Using the number of attorneys listed above, what is the average number of pro bono hours per attorney in your firm s U.S. office(s) during the following years? Average number of hours per attorney in 2010: 61 Average number of hours per attorney in 2011: 63 What percentage of attorneys employed during 2010 and 2011 in your firm s U.S. office(s) did at least 20 hours of pro bono during that calendar year? Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2010: 41 50% Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2011: 41 50% SUPERVISION AND EVALUATIONS Is there partner supervision on all pro bono matters? Do partner supervisors or, if applicable, senior associates provide written evaluations of associates work on pro bono matters? Are those evaluations taken into account in determining salary or bonuses?, they are taken into account when determining salary, they are taken into account when determining bonuses Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 355
Are those evaluations taken into account in determining advancement within the firm? Is there a pro bono requirement at your firm? No Does the firm give billable hour credit for pro bono work? Does the firm have a maximum number of pro bono hours that can be applied toward the billable hour target? No Does the firm consider pro bono hours when determining bonuses? PRO BONO POINTS What training opportunities are open to associates working on pro bono matters? Attorneys are encouraged to take advantage of any available training offered by pro bono organizations, and we do some training in-house in areas where we do a significant amount of work (e.g., SSI, asylum, immigration, post-padilla v. Kentucky, employment benefits). We also encourage first year and junior lateral associates to become members of a Kramer Levin Pro Bono Team. Each Team consists of an incoming associate and either a senior associate, special counsel or partner. The Team commits to taking on a pro bono matter within the first several months of the associate s arrival at the firm. We believe that this structure promotes early involvement in pro bono matters. Does the firm offer the use of support staff in handling pro bono matters? Please indicate how many total hours and average hours per person your summer associates spent performing pro bono in 2010 and 2011. Total hours summer associates spent on pro bono work 2010: 1,111 2011: 909 Average hours per summer associate spent on pro bono work 2010: 58 2011: 61 Percentage of summer associates in your firm s U.S. office(s) engaged in pro bono work 2010: 100% 2011: 100% Please provide any additional information about pro bono opportunities available to summer associates. We were one of the first firms to fully incorporate pro bono into our summer program. Every summer associate is offered a choice of pro bono matters. Most choose to work on SSI hearings or asylum cases, but we have also over the years involved summer associates in divorce cases, drafting elderly wills, transactional work for nonprofits, work on amicus briefs in LGBT rights, and various other pro bono matters. Does the firm have established programs, such as externships, that enable its associates to work in a public interest setting? Please describe the established program(s) and their duration, if applicable. Associates may participate in a full-time, four-six month externship at South Brooklyn Legal Services representing lowincome tenants in Housing Court. Associates receive Kramer Levin s full salary and benefits, and their time spent at South Brooklyn Legal Services counts towards partnership and bonus eligibility. Kramer Levin also partners with the Legal Aid Society under which associates commit 25% of their time over six months to participate in trial-level criminal defense work. What other law-related public interest and community service programs (that are not pro bono as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge) do you offer and manage? For example, list any law school collaborations and public interest scholarships, auctions at law schools, monetary support, or fellowships. We regularly support law school public interest auctions and similar programs. In addition, for the last four (4) years, the firm has participated in the New York City Law Department Deposition Program. Through this program, approximately 50 associates have assisted the New York City Law Department in taking and defending depositions on a variety of tort claims. What non-law related volunteer opportunities does your firm offer? For example, list any work with high school students and non-legal volunteerism for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. The firm actively participates in mentoring programs, such as the Legal Outreach program based in Harlem. We also participate in Habitat for Humanity. 356 2012 Vault.com Inc.
Please list any special recognition or awards your firm has won since 2010 for its pro bono work. 2010 Litigation partner Norman C. Simon was named to the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 (Class of 2010) by the National LGBT Bar Association. According to the LGBT Bar, the award recognizes young LGBT legal professionals who have distinguished themselves in their field and demonstrated a profound commitment to LGBT equality. The National LGBT Bar Association is an affiliate of the American Bar Association, promoting justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity. On October 6, 2010, Kramer Levin was among thirtyfour law firms that received The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) 2010 Beacon of Justice Award, which is presented to firms that have demonstrated their extraordinary commitment to providing pro bono legal representation in the area of immigration law. Kramer Levin was selected based on several areas of pro bono immigration representations, including the firm s longstanding involvement with international human rights and political asylum work, which, from January 2009 through April 2010, included providing assistance to over forty refugees fleeing persecution and successfully obtaining asylum for twenty clients. The firm was also recognized for its ongoing representation of detainees held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which included the successful filing of a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, granted by the Supreme Court in October 2009, asking it to hear the case of four Uighur prisoners. Also of note was Kramer Levin s involvement with numerous non-profit organizations as pro bono immigration counsel, including American Jewish World Service, Center for Constitutional Rights, Grand Street Settlement House, Immigration Equality, Legal Aid Society of New York and South Brooklyn Legal Services, as well as the firms s pro bono immigration services to a number of individuals, including a Pakistani musician facing persecution based on her sexual orientation, an elderly brain-cancer survivor, and an indigent young mother from Ecuador suffering from cystercicosis. Legal Services NYC honored Kramer Levin as one of its Pro Bono Visionaries for 2010 for its more than decade-long commitment to staffing a full-time Housing Court externship at South Brooklyn Legal Services. Legal Services NYC, the umbrella organization for Legal Services offices in New York and the largest provider of free civil legal services to lowincome people in the United States, also presented individual pro bono recognition awards to several former South Brooklyn externs: associates Rachel Feinberg, Elizabeth S. Larsen, and Nakeeb Siddique. 2011 On May 31, 2011, Kramer Levin was one of five national law firms to be honored with Immigration Equality s annual Safe Haven Award. The Safe Haven Award is presented annually to firms for their pro bono work on behalf of Immigration Equality s LGBT clients who are seeking political asylum in the United States. Kramer Levin s asylum program, headed by associate, Aaron Frankel, and the firm s asylum win for an HIV-positive gay man from Grenada (a case handled by associate Matthew Abbott and former associate Carmel Gabbay Legault, and one of seven such cases handled in 2010) were noted. Immigration Equality is a national organization that advocates for equal immigration rights for the LGBT and HIV-positive community. On August 4, 2011, acting on behalf of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Alphonso David, the Governor s Deputy Secretary for Civil Rights, presented Kramer Levin partners Jeffrey S. Trachtman and Norman C. Simon certificates of appreciation in recognition of Kramer Levin s pro bono contributions to achieving marriage equality in New York. Kramer Levin served as co-counsel with Lambda Legal in Hernandez v. Robles, which sought recognition of a right to marry under the New York Constitution, as well as a series of cases establishing respect in New York for the valid outof-state marriages of same-sex couples. In his remarks, Mr. David said that Kramer Levin s work pushing forward the marriage issue in New York helped make clear that there was no good reason to exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage, so that by 2011 the main debate was over the scope of religious exemptions rather than the basic right to marry. Also in attendance were Kramer Levin clients Jo-Ann Shain and Mary Jo Kennedy, who were married July 24, 2011 the day the marriage equality law went into effect. On November 14, 2011, Kramer Levin associates Matthew B. Moses and Leah B. Grossi and former associates, Rebecca L. Cossin and Amy Weiner, and Kramer Levin staff member Tatiana R. Gonzalez were honored by Sanctuary for Families with the 2011 Sanctuary Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy for their outstanding work and commitment to providing high caliber pro bono legal services to a Sanctuary client. They, along with fellow associates Brittlynn Hall and Lynda M. Tricarico, have assisted a South American refugee with her petitions before Immigration and Family Courts and USCIS, and her testimony before a grand jury. The team is supervised by associate Aaron Frankel and was previously supervised by former Kramer Levin attorney Michael Sternhell. Sanctuary for Families is one of the nation s leading nonprofit agencies dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims and their families. The award was presented at the ninth annual Above & Beyond Benefit in New York City. Kramer Levin attorneys and staff were honored by the Legal Aid Society as recipients of the 2011 Pro Bono Publico Award for outstanding services to the Legal Aid Society and its clients. Litigation associate Jennifer Diana, Business Immigration partner Ted Ruthizer, Business Immigration associate Jennifer Raiola Danzo and Business Immigration paralegal Stacy Hong are among the honorees who received the award on November 9, 2011. Each year, the Legal Aid Society recognizes the outstanding work of volunteer lawyers, law firms, corporations and other professionals who participate in the Society s Pro Bono program by providing exceptional legal services to low-income New Yorkers. Legal Services NYC honored Kramer Levin as one of its Pro Bono Visionaries for 2011 for its continued staffing of a full-time Housing Court externship at South Brooklyn Legal Services. Legal Services NYC, the umbrella organization for Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 357
Legal Services offices in New York and the largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income people in the United States, also presented individual pro bono recognition awards to several Kramer Levin associates: former South Brooklyn externs, Samantha M. Ford, Lee C. Strock, and Peggy J. Farber for other pro bono assistance. The firm s award was accepted by Current Pro Bono Co-Chair James A. Grayer and former Pro Bono Chair Jeffrey S. Trachtman. Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. Kramer Levin is proud to have a long tradition of treating pro bono as an important part of our practice. We have a long history of encouraging attorneys to pursue pro bono matters of personal interest to them, believing that pro bono works best when it reflects the passions and commitments of individual attorneys. We therefore have always been involved in a wide range of activities, from individual poverty law cases to civil rights amicus briefs to transactional projects for nonprofits. We also have undertaken larger, more coordinated projects to leverage our resources most effectively, including our full-time externship position at South Brooklyn Legal Services and class actions on behalf of homeless children with asthma, children SSI claimants, and others. We have particularly distinguished ourselves in the areas of: SSI, where we have represented dozens of claimants and argued two important Second Circuit appeals, LGBT rights, where we have participated in the landmark Dale and Lawrence cases, brought the case that established the right to second parent adoption in Delaware, and served as cooperating counsel in Lambda Legal s suit seeking recognition of marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York, and our longstanding involvement with international human rights and political asylum work. We support our pro bono work by counting the hours for all firm purposes, including bonuses, and requiring that pro bono work be supervised and evaluated like any other work. Attorneys are free to propose pro bono matters, which are approved by the chair of the pro bono committee and, if requiring a particularly significant devotion of resources, others in management. All firm resources are made available to support pro bono work as regular firm work. We also encourage attorneys to become involved in other community service activities that use their skills and talents as lawyers, including nonprofit board service, participation in high school mentoring and teaching programs and other nonprofit service. This time is also credited as billable time. 358 2012 Vault.com Inc.