The attorneys at Morvillo Abramowitz are trial attorneys, and are committed to using those trial skills to assist pro bono litigants in both civil and criminal cases.
In the civil arena, our attorneys’ efforts have been recognized by the Legal Aid Society with awards for outstanding pro bono service. These efforts have included assisting the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division in the representation of a 13-year-old girl charged in a Family Court proceeding with murdering her infant child. Sensationalized press coverage of the case threatened to subject her to psychological and physical harm and to undermine the fairness of the proceeding. However, motion practice and argument by the firm’s attorneys persuaded the Family Court to allow only coverage that would not harm our client, ensuring that she could adequately participate in her own defense.
Morvillo Abramowitz attorneys provided pro bono representation to families of victims of the September 11th attacks before the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Additionally, in 2008 the firm and two of its principals received the New York City Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award for Capital Representation in connection with the firms’ pro bono representation of a capital defendant.
In a recent criminal case, Morvillo Abramowitz attorneys brought a federal habeas challenge to a state murder conviction that resulted in the conviction’s vacatur, successfully defended that outcome on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and negotiated a favorable resolution of the matter when it ultimately returned to state court.
Our firm also routinely handles cases assigned through the Southern District of New York’s Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel, representing indigent defendants charged with federal criminal offenses. We have represented clients charged with bank robbery, immigration law violations, narcotics offenses, and a wide variety of theft offenses and conspiracies. Our attorneys bring the firm’s full resources to bear in these matters and have achieved excellent results on behalf of CJA clients.
In addition to its longstanding dedication to pro bono legal service, Morvillo Abramowitz attorneys have made significant commitments to public service. Principals of the firm have served in important court-appointed or government-approved positions. For example, principals of the firm have served as counsel to the Special Master in connection with the garment center antitrust case, and as Special Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Investigation for the City of New York. Our principals have also been appointed, with the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to conduct look-back investigations of a major broker-dealer and a big four accounting firm, as well as to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General to conduct investigations and oversee litigation on behalf of a state.
Inquiries regarding pro bono representation should be directed to Catherine M. Foti.
