The Bronx Defenders employs a groundbreaking system of holistic defense to fight both the causes and consequences of involvement in the criminal and family justice systems. Located in the heart of the South Bronx, our office is committed to a client-centered approach where clients have seamless access to services to ensure that they not only have better results in court, but better outcomes in their lives.
As part of our commitment to provide the residents of the South Bronx with unparalleled holistic representation, The Bronx Defenders has established an extensive pro bono practice in which we partner with law firms to meet the needs of our clients and the larger community. The Bronx Defenders has collaborated with dozens of major law firms on criminal, family, and civil matters. Our pro bono partners have worked with The Bronx Defenders to file complaints in federal court, litigate hearings, co-counsel trials, file and argue appeals, research novel areas of law, and spearhead large scale projects impacting major areas of law and policy. To maximize the positive effect of our pro bono program, we consistently look to create partnerships with law firms that will allow them to specialize in a particular practice area.We hope that this program will allow firms to develop institutional knowledge of a practice area leading to a more meaningful experience for the pro bono attorneys and better outcomes for clients.
The Bronx Defenders offers many pro bono opportunities in all three of our practice areas and frequently co-counsels cases with our pro bono partners. These cases present ideal opportunities for pro bono attorneys to get real courtroom experience and work with individual clients greatly in need of their services and expertise. The Bronx Defenders offers both short- and long-term projects and has flexible co-counseling arrangements. We also provide ongoing guidance and support to our pro bono partners through collaborations with individual attorneys as well as formal CLE and trial training programs.
Case spotlight: Protecting Due Process (Crawford v. Ally)
Read the New York Times article about the ruling here
Connect with Us
Law firms, corporations, law-firm attorneys, and in-house counsel who are interested in joining The Bronx Defenders’ pro bono practice, please contact our Director of Pro Bono, Annie Pineda.
Individuals interested in volunteering at The Bronx Defenders, please fill out this form.