Cohen & Gresser’s commitment to public service is a hallmark of the firm.  Our attorneys devote thousands of hours each year to public service in pro bono matters ranging from impact litigation to work for individual clients in desperate need of legal assistance. Cohen & Gresser attorneys, with support from professionals throughout the firm, make a difference in our community.

Our dedication to public service begins with the example of our founding partners:  Lawrence T. Gresser is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of Directors of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Inc., and Mark S. Cohen serves on the Public Service Committee of the Federal Bar Council.  The firm’s Pro Bono Committee, led by Daniel H. Tabak, partners with respected legal services organizations to provide assistance to those most in need.  Our pro bono clients inspire us daily, as we make a difference in their lives.

Among the firm’s recent pro bono successes are:

• Obtaining accommodations from a landlord that enabled our disabled client to enter and exit her apartment
• Counseling a sexual harassment victim in a Taxi and Limousine Commission hearing process that resulted in the harasser losing his taxicab license
• Obtaining dismissal of charges against hearing-impaired woman wrongly arrested because police could not understand what she was saying
• Obtaining asylum for a young woman persecuted in her home country as a result of her sexual orientation.
• Incorporating and obtaining tax-exempt status for non-profit organizations
• Successfully represented New York State judges in obtaining judgment that their pay raises were unconstitutionally linked to other legislation and currently representing the judges in seeking back pay as a result of this state constitutional violation
• Successfully represented an indigent artist in removing material that violated her trademark from certain websites

We continue to build on our pro bono successes.  Some of our current matters are:

• Representing a trafficking victim in fair hearings to restore needed benefits for her family
• Representing a Haitian journalist seeking asylum in the United States as a result of death threats he received in response to his reporting
• Representing a not for profit corporation founded by and serving West African community in two foreclosure proceedings and in connection with the sale of a building in the South Bronx 
• Representing a wheelchair-bound individual who was turned away from an event on account of his disability
• Representing a not-for-profit organization providing services to at risk-women in responding to allegations of misconduct
• Representing a veteran in connection with a claim to the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and two appeals of the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals 
• Representing a federal inmate in connection with a potential clemency petition through Clemency Project 2014

At Cohen & Gresser, we are proud of our commitment to public service and to improving the lives of those around us.