Richard Gruenberger, the pro bono counsel in DLA Piper's New York office, assists the pro bono team with its programs and oversees the operations of these programs in Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey and San Diego.

In addition to procuring pro bono opportunities for DLA Piper lawyers and mentoring associates with their pro bono cases, Mr. Gruenberger maintains an active caseload. He focuses his pro bono practice in several areas of litigation, including family, disability and education law, and since joining the firm in 2007 has helped develop several initiatives in these areas. He has been a leader in the firmwide effort to promote equal access to education. Mr. Gruenberger was instrumental in the development of signature projects in New York and Boston focusing on education issues. He taught a class to law school students in Mexico City as part of the New Perimeter project helping to strengthen the pro bono culture in Mexico in partnership with Mexico Appleseed. Mr. Gruenberger also is actively involved in the development of pro bono programs with the firm’s corporate clients throughout the country.

Mr. Gruenberger is also a member of the New York office's Hiring Committee.

After graduating from Skidmore College with high honors, Mr. Gruenberger spent two years in banking at Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan Chase), first in its Management Development Program and then in its Private Banking Group.

Mr. Gruenberger has dedicated his professional legal career to providing indigent individuals with equal access to justice. Before joining DLA Piper, he worked at the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), New York’s largest privately funded legal services organization. He joined NYLAG in 1993, serving as a senior staff attorney where he represented clients in all facets of matrimonial and family law, in both the state and appellate courts. Later, he was tasked with creating NYLAG's first pro bono program and was named its Pro Bono Supervising Attorney in 1997. In that role, he supervised attorneys from most of New York’s leading firms in their representation of low-income clients.

By 2005, Mr. Gruenberger was part of NYLAG’s senior management team. With responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the office, he assisted with lobbying and fundraising efforts and recruited and hired attorneys and summer associates, while continuing his role leading NYLAG's pro bono program.