Pro Bono

Our lawyers have a long history of providing pro bono representation in matters ranging from class-wide civil rights litigation to habeas corpus petitions on behalf of indigent plaintiffs, including high-stakes commercial, immigration, and domestic relations matters. Holwell Shuster & Goldberg encourages all associates to participate in pro bono matters, which span the spectrum of political ideologies and social causes. Our attorneys have worked closely with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, International Refugee Assistance Project, and the New York Office of the Appellate Defender. Our founding partners believe strongly in the need for lawyers to provide pro bono services. Judge Holwell is leading the firm’s efforts to develop a robust pro bono practice. While serving as executive partner for pro bono at a previous firm, one of our founding partners, Michael Shuster, helped to create a partnership between the firm and a leading New York hospital, in which the firm represented AIDS patients and their children.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• An asylum seeker from El Salvador, who had been forcibly separated from her minor son at the southern border in 2019. HSG successfully appealed the U.S. government’s initial denial of her application to be considered a class member in  L v. ICE, No. 18-cv-00428 (S.D. Cal.), a class action challenging the family separation policy. The government then recognized HSG’s client as a class member, allowing her to apply for parole status and work authorization.
• A mother who had fled Poland for the U.S. to escape her abusive husband, bringing their child with her. The father sought an order to return the child to Poland under the Hague Convention. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a lengthy decision in favor of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg’s client.
• An asylum seeker with underlying medical conditions detained in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility with many confirmed cases of COVID-19. After HSG filed an emergency motion on his behalf, ICE agreed to release him to his wife and children.
• Frontier Airlines pilots and flight attendants who claim the company has discriminated against them by failing to provide accommodations related to pregnancy and breastfeeding. Filed along with the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Colorado, and Towards Justice, the lawsuits are the first of their kind to be filed against the airline industry. The settlements achieved mark a major step forward for gender equity in the airline industry.
• A young Syrian man in connection with President Trump’s executive orders barring entry into the U.S. from Syria and certain other countries. HSG attorneys were instrumental in reuniting the man with his wife and young daughter, who had previously been forced to remain in Aleppo. HSG secured the first injunction against the second version of President Trump’s travel ban.
• The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and a group of Wisconsin voters challenging the “lame-duck laws” passed by the Wisconsin Assembly after the 2018 statewide elections to re-allocate executive powers from the incoming Governor and Attorney General of Wisconsin to legislative subcommittees.
• An indigent and disabled gentleman who wished to cremate his brother’s remains over the objection of the owner of the adult care facility where our client’s brother had lived, in a matter raising issues of first impression under the First Amendment and New York law. HSG attorneys prevailed at trial and in resisting appellate review, including in the New York Court of Appeals.
• Various immigration matters, including on behalf of an Iraqi citizen seeking resettlement in the United States as a refugee; a Colombian woman seeking a green card under the Violence Against Women Act; and three Cuban asylum seekers at the Board of Immigration Appeals, successfully obtaining new hearings based on breaches of their procedural rights.
• Indigent criminal defendants in numerous appeals, in partnership with the New York Office of the Appellate Defender, including a successful appeal to the New York Court of Appeals resulting in a unanimous reversal of our client’s conviction and dismissal of the indictment.
• A foundation advocating for students with disabilities, successfully obtaining orders compelling the production of documents from multiple school districts in New Jersey under that state’s public access law.
• HSG represented a mother accused of fatally shaking her infant son and secured the dismissal of all abuse and neglect allegations made by the Administration for Children’s Services, proving that her son died of natural causes and allowing her to regain custody of her infant daughter.
• Numerous amicus briefs in support of various causes. For instance, working with Professor Eugene Volokh and his First Amendment Clinic, HSG filed an amicus brief in the First Department on behalf of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 16 other media organizations supporting appellant Kesha’s argument that Dr. Luke is a public figure for purposes of defamation. HSG also submitted an amicus brief in the New York Court of Appeals on behalf of New York Civic, a non-profit and non-partisan good government organization, opposing the expansion of NYU’s campus at the expense of public parkland. In addition, HSG has filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, such as the one filed in Gill v. Whitford on behalf of 65 current and former state legislators from both major political parties urging the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the practice of political gerrymandering.