Enhances Firm’s Dedication to Community Service
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced the hiring of Harlene Katzman as Pro Bono Counsel, a newly created role at the Firm, augmenting the Firm’s longstanding commitment to pro bono work and public service.
“We view public interest and pro bono work as a privilege and a responsibility," said Pete Ruegger, Chairman of the Firm's Executive Committee. "Our deep pro bono heritage is one of our defining traits. We are delighted to have Harlene join us to help enhance our diverse pro bono efforts."
Ms. Katzman was previously Dean of the Center for Public Interest Law at Columbia Law School, which assists students exploring the role of public interest lawyers in nonprofit organizations, government agencies, international human rights organizations, academia, and other areas, including pro bono service in private law firms.
“I am thrilled to join such an extraordinary firm with a dynamic pro bono tradition. I look forward to helping the Firm continue its significant public service efforts and define new and exciting pro bono ventures,” said Ms. Katzman.
Ms. Katzman’s commitment to public service has been the cornerstone of her career. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and of the CUNY Law School, she spent two years as a Law Clerk in the Staff Attorney's Office for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her public interest experience also includes an internship at the Center for Reproductive Rights and a year representing battered and immigrant women in Queens at Main Street Legal Services. She subsequently practiced as a plaintiffs' civil rights lawyer in New York City, where she litigated employment and housing discrimination cases in federal and state courts, until joining Columbia Law School in January of 2000. She has directed the Center for Public Interest Law since 2003.
Simpson Thacher partners, associates and summer associates devoted more than 50,000 hours to pro bono projects in 2007, an average of more than 72 hours per lawyer in the United States. The Firm’s efforts have included matters as diverse as representing individuals seeking political asylum in the United States, representing indigent tenants facing eviction and battered woman seeking protection from abusive partners, counseling struggling micro-entrepreneurs, representing prison inmates challenging death sentences, representing Guantanamo detainees in connection with petitions for writs of habeas corpus, and litigating on behalf of New York City school children to ensure that they receive a constitutionally adequate education. The Firm also sponsors summer associate public interest fellowships each year as part of its summer associate program. Simpson Thacher was honored with the inaugural City Bar Justice Center Law Firm of the Year Award for its historical leadership in public interest work in the City and has been recognized with awards from such distinguished organizations as inMotion, the United Federation of Teachers, Legal Services NYC, The Legal Aid Society, the New York State Bar Association, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Lawyers Alliance for New York, and the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of NY.