Harlene Katzman is the Pro Bono Counsel and Director at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.  Prior to joining the Firm in 2008, Harlene was the Dean of the Center for Public Interest Law at Columbia Law School where she directed the school's mandatory Pro Bono Program as well as its public interest programming, counseling and fellowships programs. From 1997-2000, Harlene was a plaintiffs' civil rights lawyer with Steel Bellman Ritz & Clark, PC, where she litigated employment and housing discrimination cases in federal and state court. After graduating from CUNY Law School in 1995, she spent two years as a Law Clerk in the Staff Attorney’s Office for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her public interest experience also includes an internship at the Center for Reproductive Rights and a year representing battered and immigrant women in Queens at Main Street Legal Services. Harlene has a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Harlene’s pro bono clients include primarily low-income, immigrant women who have been the victim of domestic violence and trafficking.  In 2010, Harlene was given the Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy, by the Sanctuary for Families Associates Committee.  Harlene is a member of the board of directors of the Reproductive Health Access Project, and is an officer and member of the board of directors for the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo).  She currently sits on the Advisory Council for Sanctuary for Families, Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services; the Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and the Public Service Committee of the Federal Bar Council.  Harlene has also served as the Chair of the American Association of Law Schools’ Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities (2007-2008).

Honors/Associations

•	Officer and Board Member, Association of Pro Bono Counsel
•	Board Member, Reproductive Health Access Project
•	Member, Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York
•	Member, Public Service Committee of the Federal Bar Council
•	2010 Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy, Sanctuary for Families Associates Committee
•	Member, Legal Advisory Council of the Sanctuary for Families
•	Former Chair, American Association of Law Schools' Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities

Publications

•	Public Service Fellowship Program

Speaking Engagements

•	Harlene Katzman to Speak at New York Law School on “Closing the Justice Gap Through Public Interest and Pro Bono Lawyering” October 24, 2011
•	Harlene Katzman to Speak at the New York City Bar on Best Practices in Pro Bono February 15, 2011

Admissions

•	New York 1996

Education

•	City of New York Law School, 1995 J.D.
•	University of California at Berkeley, 1990 B.A.