Alumnus/Alumna of the Month

Robin Steinberg '82

Read an Interview with Robin Steinberg.

Robin Steinberg, executive director of The Bronx Defenders, has been a public defender for 20 years. She began her career as a criminal trial lawyer with the Legal Aid Society. After several years, she became a founding member and deputy director of The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem before creating The Bronx Defenders in 1997. Steinberg has extensive experience in every aspect of public defense—from representing individual clients to creating a non-profit organization. From 1999 through 2001, she was a participant in the Executive Session on Public Defense, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and Harvard University . Today, Steinberg advocates nationally and internationally for holistic representation and the community defender movement, delivering papers, conducting trainings, and hosting visitors from around the world. She serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Defender Association and New York City Alternative to Incarceration, and she is an advisory board member of the National Defender Leadership Project.

Over the course of her career, she has been honored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association for her “exceptional vision, devotion and service in the quest for equal justice;” by the New York Bar Association for her “outstanding contribution to the delivery of defense services;” and by Harvard Law School, which awarded her the Wasserstein Fellowship in recognition of her “outstanding contributions and dedication to public interest law.” She teaches trial skills to law students and professionals, serves on panels and speaks throughout the country and around the world about public defense management and holistic lawyering.