Jennifer K. Brown is Senior Pro Bono Counsel in the New York office of Morrison & Foerster LLP. She is responsible for managing and promoting the participation of lawyers from the New York, Washington and Northern Virginia offices in the firm's extensive program of providing free legal services to low-income individuals, to nonprofit organizations, and in matters that serve the public interest.
Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Brown was vice president and legal director of Legal Momentum, the nation's first women's rights legal organization, originally known as the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. There, she directed cutting-edge litigation and policy advocacy focused on employment discrimination, domestic violence victims' rights, and sexuality and family rights. Previously, she served as a director with the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the New York Attorney General and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Ms. Brown brings to the firm her deep knowledge of public interest legal organizations and the most pressing civil rights issues of the day. She has, as well, a rich array of litigation experience, having represented individuals as well as federal agencies and the public, from both the plaintiff and defense positions, in trial and appellate courts. As Senior Pro Bono Counsel, she applies this knowledge and experience to multiple goals: encouraging the firm's attorneys from all practice areas to bring pro bono projects to the firm; easing the way for attorneys to undertake meaningful pro bono service; and working with legal service and public interest organizations to identify creative ways to tap the passion and intellect of the firm's lawyers to pursue the public good. Recent achievements include collaborating with a legal services organization to represent individuals whose claims for unemployment insurance benefits are challenged, and forming a project to represent disabled individuals who are seeking federal disability benefits.
