Proskauer Rose
Pro bono work enables us to make a difference while gaining valuable legal and life experience.
April 30, 2019 at 11:59 PM
3 minute read
William Silverman, with Proskauer Rose.
Describe your firm's philosophy on pro bono service.
Our commitment to pro bono is part of who we are and is featured on our Proskauer For Good blog. Pro bono work is encouraged and valued. We prioritize work that promotes equal access to justice, such as securing immigration status for undocumented immigrants, legal protection for survivors of human trafficking, government benefits for veterans with disabilities, and healthy housing for low-income tenants.
Of the big cases your firm recently worked on, one included representing New Yorkers in a class action lawsuit in New York City Housing Authority apartments. Tell us more about that case and how you reached the outcome.
150,000 NYCHA residents, including 35,000 children, live in "asthma hotspots" generating the highest rates of asthma-related ER visits in NYC. We worked with the special master (appointed in 2016 to oversee compliance with the consent decree settling the lawsuit) to rewrite NYCHA's manual on mold abatement procedures, develop a novel software application to help NYCHA staff diagnose mold problems correctly, and implement a "Mold Busters" program. By January 2018, NYCHA claimed to be complying with the consent decree but tenants continued reporting recurrent problems. We hired a forensic data analyst who uncovered errors in NYCHA's quarterly compliance reports, proving that NYCHA was not in compliance. In February 2018, NYCHA announced it would not launch the Mold Busters program NYCHA-wide until 2020. We moved for an amended consent decree that the court approved, tightening NYCHA's obligations to repair mold/moisture quickly.
What was the most satisfying aspect of that key case?
Baez v. NYCHA is a case study in designing and implementing a novel methodology for addressing an environmental health crisis in public housing. It illustrates the challenges of reforming a large institution through litigation and the importance of forming coalitions of advocates and experts to press upon various levels of power—the courts, the government, the media and the public—to fight for racial and environmental justice creating systemic change.
Discuss other key pro bono matters recently completed by the firm.
In Martin v. Gross, the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of our clients, finding the Massachusetts Wiretap Statute unconstitutional when applied to secret recordings of government officials performing their duties in public. The decision is significant for its clarification of protections under the First Amendment. In a landmark ruling for our client, a nonprofit providing residential and vocational opportunities to autistic individuals, the New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that New Jersey Law Against Discrimination protects the autism nonprofit in a land dispute. The unanimous ruling held that while the owners of the property might not fall into a protected class, they represent people who do.
Why does your pro bono work matter to you as a lawyer?
There is a tremendous unmet need for legal services among people of limited means. Pro bono work enables us to make a difference while gaining valuable legal and life experience. We became lawyers because values like justice, equality and fairness matter to us. Pro bono work enables us to apply those abstract principles to our communities and the lives of real people, which is both vitally important and enormously gratifying.
Responses submitted by William Silverman, a partner at Proskauer Rose who leads the firm's global pro bono efforts, and Erin Meyer, pro bono counsel at the firm.
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