SRZ Announces NAPW to Host 2022 Brooks Burdette Fellow

Schulte Roth and Zabel LLP is proud to announce that the firm’s 2022 Brooks Burdette Fellow will work exclusively with the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (“NAPW”), a non-profit advocacy organization which works to ensure that women do not lose their constitutional and human rights as a result of pregnancy.

The firm’s Executive Committee created the Fellowship in honor of Brooks Burdette, SRZ’s late litigation partner who was a long-time Chair of the Pro Bono Committee, and whose commitment to public interest work was exemplary. Since the inception of the Fellowship in 2009, past host organizations have included The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Human Rights First, Sanctuary for Families, The Innocence Project, and, last year, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

This year’s Fellow will be announced in August and will be fully embedded with NAPW (virtually or otherwise) for six-months, while continuing to receive full pay and benefits as an SRZ employee. An SRZ pro bono client since 2015, NAPW has been working at the intersection of criminal justice and reproductive justice for over 20 years, defending the rights of pregnant people against criminalization because of pregnancy. SRZ has served as their “outside general counsel” on matters related to employment, real estate and other general corporate matters. We also recently partnered with them to research and draft the timely multi-disciplinary guide for professionals, Confronting Pregnancy Criminalization.

NAPW is tracking a rapid acceleration of criminalization as the constitutional right to access abortion was overturned and fetal personhood laws are used to control pregnant people with wanted and unwanted pregnancies in new and insidious ways. The Fellow will support NAPW's urgent work documenting cases and trends across the country, helping to respond to increased inquiries from individuals facing investigations or arrests, providing amicus briefs, legislative hearings and policy advocacy, rapid response resources to criminal defense attorneys on the ground, and conducting legal research and writing in support of criminal defense litigation in which NAPW is directly involved. 

SRZ will continue to support NAPW and the Fellow with ongoing pro bono work during the Fellowship.