Federal Bar Council Honors Neil Steiner With Thurgood Marshall Pro Bono Award

Dechert litigator Neil Steiner has been recognized by the Federal Bar Council with the Thurgood Marshall Award for Exceptional Commitment to Pro Bono Service. The award is extended annually to one rising star and one veteran attorney within the Second Circuit who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to pro bono legal services.

Steiner, a New York-based partner in Dechert’s Trial, Investigations & Securities group and a trustee of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, has become a national trailblazer for protecting the rights of marginalized individuals to exercise one of their most basic freedoms—the right to vote.

For 15 years, Steiner has led pro bono teams at Dechert in challenging voting restrictions in ten states, including trials in federal courts in Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas and New York and appeals in two additional cases in Ohio and Nevada. The issues ranged from the failure to offer voter registration at public assistance agencies to the imposition of voter identification and documentary proof of citizenship requirements to the partisan election of state appellate judges.

During the 2020 election cycle alone, Steiner led Dechert teams that sought to protect the rights of eligible citizens to vote safely and securely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

Steiner’s achievements have been recognized with a number of legal accolades. Last May, he was honored with a Pro Bono Publico Award by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service.

The Federal Bar Council recognized Steiner as a Thurgood Marshall winner in an online ceremony on January 21.

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