Public Interest Commitment

Our commitment to supporting human rights through the legal profession dates back more than 30 years, when Founding Partner Matthew Dontzin received a Ford Foundation Grant to undertake human rights legal work in South Africa. Matthew’s work in South Africa was cited as instrumental in helping to resolve black-on-black violence (known as the “Peace Process.”) His report to the Bar of the City of New York, “A Crisis in the Administration of Justice in South Africa,” assisted in the development of a training program for South African lawyers and enabled him to provide legal representation to members of the Democratic Movement in the wake of apartheid.

Our firm has remained strongly dedicated to public interest and human rights law; we are devoted to training and supporting exceptional young lawyers who share our commitment. To this end, we support up to three litigation associates in spending as much as half of their billable time on work related to human rights, social justice, and public interest law.

We provide training, trial experience, bar memberships and a competitive salary to our public interest associates. The ideal candidate is a former law clerk with one to three years of in-house or firm experience, although we will consider extraordinary first-years as well.

Our goal is to train tomorrow’s leaders in providing the most deserving — but often least served — members of society with the best possible legal representation. If you share our passion, please contact us.

The firm gave me an unparalleled opportunity to pursue my passion for pro bono immigration work, criminal defense, and environmental litigation while training me as a lawyer and a leader.
Anuja ThatteAssociate