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

• 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 pro bono work during 2004, which included serving as cooperating counsel with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in Hernandez v. Robles , which seeks recognition of marriage rights for same-sex couples under the New York Constitution, and with the Center for Disability Advocacy Rights in a class action challenging the methodology for processing children’s Social Security disability claims. 

• 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 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.  With our assistance, the client was able to make an Offer of Compromise to resolve the tax issue that was accepted by the Department of Taxation, dramatically reducing the client’s liability.

• 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 seven 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.

• Human Rights First (“HRF”), formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, has launched a fellowship program to honor Kramer Levin name partner Marvin Frankel, a founding member and long-time chairman of its board, who passed away in March 2002.  Judge Frankel, who spent the last 19 years of his career as a partner at Kramer Levin, was a hands-on participant in HRF’s work, traveling the globe to monitor human rights violations and even being briefly imprisoned in Kenya during a trip in the 1980’s.  The Marvin Frankel Fellowships (established with financial support from the Firm) are awarded to law students working for the summer in the HRF’s Asylum Program — a program Judge Frankel helped establish and through which Kramer Levin lawyers have represented dozens of refugees seeking asylum.

• The August 2004 issue of Metropolitan Corporate Counsel featured an in-depth interview with Managing Partner Paul Pearlman  regarding Kramer Levin’s pro bono program.  Paul described the Firm’s historical commitment to pro bono service, based both on the moral and ethical obligations to help make the legal system work for all and the more pragmatic benefits of allowing junior attorneys to gain valuable hands-on experience, helping the Firm to recruit top candidates, and enhancing the Firm’s overall reputation.