NEW YORK – Oct. 13, 2015 – Caroline J. Heller, Litigation Practice shareholder in the New York office of international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, has been named head of the Pro Bono Program. Heller has been doing pro bono at Greenberg Traurig since 2004, when she joined the firm as an associate. She has dedicated over 3,000 hours to the pro bono representation of, among others, parents of children with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings, as well as supervising the firm’s associates on their pro bono cases.
“Caroline truly understands that Greenberg Traurig’s pro bono culture is one that, at its core, connects us all,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig chief executive officer. “Even as we have grown to 38 offices and over 1,900 lawyers around the globe, we remain committed to providing access to justice to the most needy in the communities in which we live. We are very proud of Caroline's efforts, and she is a true role model by combining an active commercial litigation practice with her work, and now leadership, in the pro bono area. Personally, I am also very proud of the character and commitment evidenced by her doing all this, remembering her own roots, while also raising her son, who one day will fully understand the kind of person he gets to call 'Mom.'"
“I am deeply honored to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading Greenberg Traurig’s firmwide pro bono efforts,” said Heller. “I know firsthand that pro bono work really matters and the impact that it can have. In this new role, I hope to support our attorneys nationwide to engage in pro bono work by collaborating with legal services providers in every community in which we have an office and helping to identify more pro bono opportunities.”
Heller has been named a 2015 Finalist by Chambers USA for its "Women in Law Awards" Leadership in the Community: Lawyer of the Year, and received the New York Law Journal’s 2014 Lawyers Lead By Example Pro Bono Award as well as the New York Bar Association’s First Judicial District 2012 President’s Pro Bono Award. She is a member of the Board of Advocates for Children of New York, a nonprofit that works on behalf of children who are at the greatest risk for school-based discrimination due to, among other things, disability and poverty.
Heller has also successfully litigated dozens of pro bono cases in administrative hearings, and in state and federal court, with three published decisions in federal court. She has also represented an amicus curiae nonprofit, which works to protect special education rights for children with disabilities, in Circuit Courts.
Outside of her pro bono work, Heller focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and business disputes on a nationwide basis in the fields of professional liability, partnership disputes, securities litigation, and entertainment disputes.
She received her J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was the articles editor of the Northwestern University Law Review. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Bryn Mawr College.