HOUSTON – Nov. 20, 2014 – Jennifer Tomsen, a shareholder in the Houston office of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, has been appointed as a founding member of the Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) Houston Advisory Committee. KIND matches pro bono attorneys with unaccompanied immigrant children in removal proceedings who would otherwise face the legal system alone. The advisory committee was established in 2014 to help build KIND’s partnerships and outreach in the Houston area, one of the organization’s key sites. Tomsen has worked with KIND for over four years.
"We proudly support Jennifer’s commitment to pro bono representation of underserved communities,” said Douglas C. Atnipp, Greenberg Traurig co-regional operating shareholder for Texas and Houston co-managing shareholder. “She is a wonderful advocate of pro bono programs and opportunities, like KIND, and continues to serve as an invaluable resource to the firm and the local community.”
Tomsen’s appointment continues the ongoing expansion of Greenberg Traurig’s new pro bono initiative in partnership with KIND, announced in April of this year. To leverage its national platform in support of KIND, founded by the Microsoft Corporation and Angelina Jolie, Greenberg Traurig has taken more than 25 cases in seven offices on behalf of unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings, involving approximately 50 of its attorneys. Thus far, the firm has taken cases in its Houston, Boston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. offices.
Previously selected by KIND as a “Pro Bono Attorney of the Month,” Tomsen is also pro bono co-coordinator for the firm’s Houston office. In addition to her work with KIND, she is co-chair of the Law Advisory Board for Children at Risk, and serves as a board member of the Tahirih Justice Center. Tomsen handles a broad range of pro bono matters, and is an active member in various professional organizations, including the Garland Walker American Inn of Court.
Tomsen focuses her practice on litigation, including commercial and securities litigation in state and federal courts and securities arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She has represented broker-dealers in a wide variety of customer-member and member-member disputes and regulatory matters. Her experience includes defending directors and officers in securities class actions and other litigation, and representing special litigation committees in shareholder derivative suits.