Listen to this article

The basics:

• Lowenstein Sandler logged 29,533 pro bono hours in 2024
• New leadership continues firm’s public interest mission
• Work includes civil rights, housing and immigration cases

Long considered one of the top law firms in New Jersey for pro bono work, Lowenstein Sandler LLP has gained increasing recognition since doubling down on its commitment to the community with the 2009 launch of its Center for the Public Interest.

After longtime chair Catherine Weiss retired last year, new partners Natalie Kraner and Alexander Shalom took the helm and are continuing to advance the program’s mission.

Shalom, who came on board as the Center’s chair after 13 years with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, has said the program will continue to be a “unique hybrid of doing direct services work and impact litigation” and bridging the gap “between those two communities in the legal sphere that otherwise wouldn’t have been bridged.”

Both Shalom and Kraner, the Center’s director, have noted that Lowenstein Sandler has worked on many of the same issues they have over the years and that they’re thrilled to be able to continue those efforts in a new setting.

In 2024, Lowenstein Sandler dedicated 29,533 hours to pro bono matters on behalf of 743 clients, according to a newly released report from the firm. On average, each lawyer spent 79 hours on such work, focusing on areas like civil rights & liberties, immigration, housing, criminal justice and social enterprises & nonprofits.

Case highlights over the past year include:

• Protecting voting rights by working with nonprofits and government officials to extend polling hours on Election Day in November 2024 in Burlington County, an area where voters faced long delays to cast their ballots;
• Securing a preliminary injunction that suspended an unconstitutional policy from the federal government that denied detained non-citizens virtual access to New Jersey courts;
• Helping affordable housing nonprofits, like Equitable Solutions for Housing in New Jersey and Brick by Brick Training & Development Corp., purchase and rehabilitate properties into safe, stable housing for low- and moderate-income families;
• Submitting an amicus brief on behalf of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership that advocated for best practices in policing, such as evidence-based strategies that focus resources on the greatest threats to public safety, promoting alternatives to arrest and incarceration and improving relationships between the community and police officers;
• Supporting global access to education by representing a Kenyan technology company in a strategic merger that will provide services to students in under-resourced communities more efficiently;
• Submitting an amicus brief on behalf of the ACLU of New Jersey and Garden State Equality in an appeal challenging policies enacted by some New Jersey school districts that require schools to inform parents of their student’s gender identity – even if the student objects;
• Negotiating an agreement on behalf of five locally based charities so they can continue distributing clothing and food without a permit or legal documentation to 50 individuals living in an encampment in a wooded section of Toms River;
• Defeating a Florida law that banned gender transition care for minors and imposed hurdles on adults seeking such care.

Through the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest, the firm aims to address significant social problems and provide meaningful assistance to low-income and other marginalized people, along with the organizations that advocate for and support them. The work engages a full range of Lowenstein’s talents and reflects its core value of performing work of the highest quality in a way that maximizes results for clients and causes.

A fundamental principle

When the firm was founded in 1961 by Alan Lowenstein and Dick Sandler, the original partnership agreement stipulated that one of the firm’s fundamental principles was a commitment to community. In the decades that followed, Lowenstein Sandler reinforced that mission by dedicating hundreds of thousands of pro bono hours on matters like challenging racial profiling and spurring child welfare reform.

Sixteen years ago, the firm decided to expand its promise to advance the public interest and serve communities in need by creating the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest. In addition to directing Lowenstein’s pro bono program, the center also oversees other forms of civic and philanthropic engagement.

Under the direction of Weiss – who held the position for nearly 12 years – the center bolstered the firm’s dedication to public service by building an award-winning program serving hundreds of low-income individuals and the nonprofits that support them.

It has also received awards and recognition from numerous organizations, including Bloomberg Law, Essex County Bar Association, Volunteer Lawyers For Justice, New Jersey Institute For Social Justice, The Legal Aid Society, Lawyers Alliance For New York, New Jersey State Bar Association, United States Patent & Trademark Office, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Thurgood Marshall Fund, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Jersey, New Jersey Business & Industry Association and League of Women Voters of New Jersey.

Commenting on the release of the report, Lowenstein Sandler’s managing partner and chair Gary Wingens said he believes it emphasizes the “firm’s continued commitment to using our time and skills to support marginalized communities and the nonprofits that support them.”

“Advocacy takes many forms and the path towards lasting change is often long and paved by many,” Shalom and Kraner said. “Our clients, colleagues in the nonprofit and legal services sectors and volunteers are tough, and we are proud to stand with them. We draw strength from their examples, as we know we will all, inevitably, find ourselves in need of resilience at one time or another.”

Shalom said he feels the work recapped in the report “highlights the strength and creativity of our clients and partners—and serves as a reminder of the role we play when we use the law to support people through complex and often challenging circumstances.”

Kraner, a longtime attorney with the firm and legal director of the center, added, “At a time when many individuals and nonprofits are facing unprecedented challenges, it is critical that lawyers continue to be generous with their time and talents.”