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

• The ABA Section of Litigation selected Kramer Levin to receive the 2007 John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award. The Wisdom Award, named for the legendary Fifth Circuit judge, was presented to Pro Bono Committee Chair Jeff Trachtman on behalf of the firm at the Section’s annual meeting in San Antonio. The first New York-based firm ever to win this prestigious national award, Kramer Levin was singled out based on its outstanding and varied pro bono achievements in 2006, which included serving as co-counsel in League of Women Voters of Florida v. Cobb, which struck down Florida’s restrictive voter registration law, and Hernandez v. Robles, the New York case seeking equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. The award also recognized Kramer Levin's long-standing commitment to policies that encourage all of its lawyers to participate in pro bono and public service work. 
  
  
• The New York Law Journal published an interview with partner Jeff Trachtman, Chair of Kramer Levin's Pro Bono Committee, in connection with the firm's receipt of the Wisdom Award. Jeff discussed the broad involvement in pro bono work by more than 200 lawyers in the firm last year, and the firm's significant accomplishments in such areas as civil rights, voting rights, political asylum, tenant rights, and transactional work for nonprofits. In particular, Jeff discussed the firm's prominent role in LGBT rights litigation, noting the broad support within the firm and among corporate clients for what has become increasingly mainstream civil rights work. Read the interview. 
  
  
• The National Law Journal selected Kramer Levin from among scores of nominees to receive one of the publication's four Pro Bono Awards for 2006. The award recognized the firm’s “singular achievement” in litigating a high-profile federal case that was the first to hold that private voter registration drives are protected by the First Amendment. League of Women Voters of Florida v. Cobb, 447 F. Supp. 2d 1314 (S.D. Fla. 2006). In a related feature article, "Voting case smashed barriers," the Law Journal reported how partner Eric Tirschwell and associates Craig Siegel and Erin Walter helped the League of Women Voters of Florida and other nonprofit groups win a federal injunction striking down a burdensome and discriminatory Florida law that had shut down most nonpartisan voter registration efforts in that state. The ruling had cleared the way for the immediate resumption of voter registration efforts in anticipation of the 2006 November elections. 
  
  
• Litigation associate Wells Dixon was one of the recipients of the Legal Aid Society's 2006 Pro Bono Awards. He was recognized for what Legal Aid called his "outstanding" briefing in People v. Nelson, an Appellate Division criminal appeal that has since resulted in a partial reversal. The appeal challenged the government's improper evidence and argument regarding a charge on which the grand jury had declined to indict our client and the court's imposition of consecutive sentences without a finding that the offenses constituted more than a single act, as required by the penal law and federal constitutional decisions. 
  
  
• Jennifer Haber and Jennifer Despins were selected to receive awards for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy from the Sanctuary for Families' Center for Battered Women's Legal Services in October 2006. They were honored for their work in obtaining asylum for a woman from Pakistan who was abused by her boyfriend and then abandoned with three children and no means of support. The client was facing likely death if returned to Pakistan because her family had threatened to kill her for having children out of wedlock and not letting the family select her spouse. The Kramer Levin team worked closely with Sanctuary For Families, an organization that represents victims of domestic violence, and Nassau County agencies, to find financial support and affordable housing for our client. 
  
  
• Litigation Partner Barry Berke and Kramer Levin were honored by the Coalition for the Homeless at this year’s ARTWALK NY for their work in fighting for the legal rights of homeless New Yorkers. Kramer Levin also sponsored the event, which was held in November 2006 at the Puck Building. Since 1995, ARTWALK NY has united artists and art-lovers in an effort to help the homeless men, women, and children living in New York City. 
  
  
• 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 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 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.

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