Howard Cooper featured in Mass. Bar Association’s DEI Spotlight
Howard M. Cooper is featured in the Massachusetts Bar Association’s December DEI Spotlight in recognition for his decades-long commitment to handling significant civil rights cases as well as complex civil and criminal defense matters.
As head of Todd & Weld’s pro bono program, Mr. Cooper, a Founding Partner of the firm, has advanced the firm’s long-standing commitment to helping those in need obtain top-flight representation, including in matters of significant societal impact. In 2021, Todd & Weld received the MBA’s Access to Justice Pro Bono Award for Law Firms, which reflected Mr. Cooper’s influence of the firm’s pro bono work.
Recent examples of pro bono matters handled by the firm under Mr. Cooper’s guidance include:
- Obtaining a federal jury verdict, including a punitive damages award, based on a Boston Police Officer's violation of a minority client's Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully arresting him in his home without probable cause.
- Persuading the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to dismiss a criminal complaint against a minority client stemming from a Black Lives Matter protest and working with the DA’s Office on implementing systemic changes to policing conduct related to demonstrations.
- Working as part of a team of Boston immigration, civil rights, and trial attorneys in pursuing a federal class action on behalf of children seeking damages against federal officials for forcibly separating the children from their parents.
- Securing a favorable settlement on behalf of employees of a major Massachusetts city related to their race and gender discrimination claims.
- Facilitating a settlement on behalf the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester, in a contentious dispute with the Town of Dudley, Mass., over the siting of an Islamic cemetery in that town, which allowed the Islamic cemetery to go forward.