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Who

Public-interest lawyer Neuborne has built a career defending the needy, but it's his huge settlements for Holocaust survivors—and the dispute over the fees for his service—that have attracted attention in recent years.

Backstory

After earning his law degree from Harvard, Bronx born Neuborne went into private practice as a tax attorney. Deciding he'd rather serve the public good, he took a one-year leave of absence to work for the New York Civil Liberties Union. He never returned, and has spent the last 40 years in the pursuit of justice. During the Vietnam era, Neuborne represented anti-war protestors accused of desecrating the flag and defended Air Force pilots who refused to drop bombs in Cambodia. He later became the national legal director of the ACLU where he did battle with the Reagan administration over women's rights and free speech issues. In 1995, Neuborne joined the newly-established Brennan Center for Justice and Society at NYU as legal director. In addition to his post heading up the Brennan Center, he's also the Inez Milholland professor of civil liberties at NYU School of Law.

Of note

Although Neuborne's handled a number of big cases in recent years—he argued the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill before the Supreme Court, for example—what has landed him in the hot seat as of late has been his work on behalf of Holocaust survivors in their case against Swiss banks. In the late '90s, Neuborne negotiated a landmark $1.25 billion settlement for the Holocaust Victims Fund; he then spent seven years working out how the payments would be structured. Although Holocaust victims were initially pleased with the job, they weren't quite so thrilled when they found out he'd submitted a $4.7 million legal bill for his services. (Participants in the fund said they thought Neuborne was working for free.) The nasty back-and-forth finally concluded in December 2007 when a federal judge awarded Neuborne $3.1 million.

On screen

Neuborne had a bit part in the Milos Forman's The People vs. Larry Flynt. He played attorney Roy Grutman. He later hosted a show called On Appeal for Court TV.

Personal

He's married to Helen Redleaf Neuborne, an attorney who once served as director of the ACLU's Legal Defense and Education Fund. The couple's daughter, Ellen, is a reporter; another daughter, Lauren, died of a heart attack in 1996 at the age 27. They live in Chelsea and have a summer home in Water Mill.