Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and its lawyers have been widely recognized and lauded for their public service efforts:

• Six Kramer Levin attorneys received Safe Haven Awards from Immigration Equality, an organization that advocates for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive community. The awards, presented in an April 2006 ceremony, honor pro bono attorneys who help win permanent relief for LGBTH+ people fleeing persecution from around the world and seeking refuge in the United States. Aaron Frankel, Mital Gondha, Gregory Dolin and Matthew Abbott were recognized for their success in obtaining a grant of asylum for a gay man from Pakistan who, on account of his sexual orientation, faced severe persecution from the government and his community if he were returned to his home country. Debbie Lee  and Patricia Ronan were honored for their work in on behalf of a man from Jamaica who fled the country after he was persecuted and threatened with extortion because he is gay and HIV-positive.

• The December 2005 issue of Metropolitan Corporate Counsel  featured an in-depth interview with Litigation partner and Pro Bono Committee Chair Jeff Trachtman. Jeff discussed Kramer Levin’s long-standing commitment to pro bono service and the positive effect such a commitment has on junior associates in the development of their careers. Read the interview.

• Partner Jeff Trachtman  was a recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s 2005 President’s Pro Bono Service Award, which is given to a single attorney in each of the State’s judicial districts to recognize outstanding pro bono service. Jeff was recognized both for his decade-plus leadership of Kramer Levin’s pro bono program (including creating and coordinating the firm’s full-time housing court externship at South Brooklyn Legal Services) and his own active pro bono work.

• Partner Maria Jones  and associates Anwen Jiang and Craig Schioppo were among those selected to receive the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Awards for 2004, presented by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye at a March, 2005 reception. Anwen and Craig were honored for their successful advocacy on behalf of a client whose preexisting tax problem became a significant family hardship when his wife lost her job as a garment factory worker following the September 11 attacks. Maria, who is a member of the Advisory Board of Legal Aid’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, supervised the matter.

• Legal Outreach, Inc., a Harlem-based nonprofit educational organization, honored Kramer Levin and associate Jeremy Cohen  as part of its 20th Anniversary Gala at Columbia University in May 2004. Invoking the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child, Legal Outreach recognized Kramer Levin as one of its “Institutions of the Village” for its support of Legal Outreach programs and honored Jeremy as one of six new “Elders of the Legal Outreach Village.” Jeremy has spent more than eight years serving Legal Outreach in various capacities, from participating in its mock trial and debate programs to creating and funding an annual scholarship for graduating seniors.

• In June 2004, special counsel Susan Jacquemot  received the Hudson Guild’s Outstanding Volunteer Recognition Award, in honor of her extensive pro bono work over several years for this Chelsea-based nonprofit community services organization.

Home: Pro Bono Annual Report