The following article by Chris Serico was published in the New York Law Journal
Peter Zimroth NYLJ/Rick Kopstein
While accepting the Interfaith Center of New York’s James Parks Morton Award, Peter Zimroth reflected on his life and career. But before doing so, he lifted his gilded trophy and addressed family in attendance for the June 5, 2014 ceremony that also honored, among others, former Vice President Al Gore.
“It’s not that I am a competitive person,” said Zimroth, drawing laughs, “but this award is much heavier than my wife’s Oscar.”
Estelle Parsons’ Academy Award for her performance in “Bonnie and Clyde” may be the apples to Zimroth’s oranges, but if his field offered Oscars for law and advocacy, he might have one of his own.
As senior counsel at Arnold & Porter, he boasts more than 40 years of litigation experience. He’s been a professor at the New York University School of Law, an editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, but much of Zimroth’s career has focused on serving the five boroughs.
Saying he has “loved the challenge and the excitement of being involved in the life of the city,” the Brooklyn native climbed the legal ladder to become corporation counsel to Mayor Ed Koch. As the city’s top lawyer, Zimroth helped reform campaign finance regulation, which he said opened the electoral process to a “broader spectrum of people—and I’m extremely proud of that.”
Perhaps his civil-rights advocacy had an even greater impact on New Yorkers. He filed a brief to the New York State Court of Appeals that led to the inclusion of same-sex couples to the state’s legal definition of a family, and sued the federal government to claim the census disproportionately undercounted—and underserved—New York’s minorities.
Even after his term as corporation counsel ended, he kept fighting for groups on the outside, looking in. Arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court, Zimroth successfully defended that women could not be prohibited from joining New York City’s private clubs. He served on the board of directors of the Legal Aid Society. And these days, he’s leading a pro bono case in an attempt to overturn a New Jersey zoning law preventing a Muslim congregation from building a mosque.
“To me, social justice is justice,” he added. “Why else would anyone want to be a lawyer, if justice was not at the center of their being?”
While police accountability has become a trendy talking point, it’s been on Zimroth’s radar for his entire career. In addition to representing Detective David Durk, who joined whistleblower Frank Serpico in testifying on New York City police corruption to the Knapp Commission in the early 1970s, Zimroth has been called upon to monitor the NYPD’s so-called “stop-and-frisk” policy.
“I took away a tremendous admiration for [Durk], who was willing to speak to truth,” Zimroth said. “That’s not an easy thing to do.”
While his other high-profile clients have ranged from the White House Counsel to the AIG Credit Facility Trust, Zimroth, 71, also wields hyperlocal influence, sitting on the boards of New York City’s Churchill School and Westchester County’s Windward School, both of which educate special-needs students.
“The legal challenges are always important, [but] the personal challenges are, in many ways, even more significant, because you meet people who are in crisis and are looking for your help; that’s a very heavy responsibility,” he said. “Also, it’s a two-way street, because, if you open yourself up to it, you grow. You learn from your clients.”
Peter Zimroth, 71Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter
Other experience:
Law Clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas and to Chief Judge David Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District
Chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan District Attorney’s office
Professor, New York University School of Law
Appointments/Activities:
Appointed by Southern District Judge Shira Scheindlin to monitor court-ordered reforms to the New York Police Department’s stop and frisk practices
Appointed by New York’s chief judge as one of the three directors of New York’s Capital Defender Office
Member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association
Secretary and member of the executive committee of the New York City Bar
Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society
Member of the Mayor’s Committee on the Judiciary
Boards of two schools for students with special needs, the Churchill School and the Windward School
Education:
LL.B., Yale Law School, 1966
B.A., Columbia University, 1963
