Bruce J. Gitlin

Bruce Gitlin, founder and executive director of The Center for Law and Justice, is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York State. Bruce was admitted to the New York State bar in 1980 after graduating from Fordham Law School (1980) and Cornell University (1977). He was an associate in a small personal injury practice, later an associate in the litigation department of Rosenman & Colin and, in August, 1986, following Rosenman & Colin, he established, and continues to maintain, a private practice, specializing in the field of personal injury. Bruce has served on the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Additionally, Bruce has served on the Board of Directors of the New York Center for Law and the Deaf, a not-for-profit organization committed to assisting the deaf and hard of hearing with legal issues. Bruce has been serving the deaf and hard of hearing community since 1981 and studies sign language to assist in representing this unique community.

In 1990, Bruce established the Trial Lawyers Division of UJA-Federation. The division has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past decade.

In the early 1990s and continuing into the mid-1990s, Bruce served on the Board of Trustees of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun and as vice-president of this Westside faith community. Bruce’s commitment to the advancement of human rights and access to justice was strengthened and sharpened by his teacher, Rabbi Marshall Meyer, who was the leader of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun and an advocate for human rights both in Argentina and New York.

In 1994, following the establishment of the UJA Trial Lawyers Division and while serving on the Board of Trustees at B’nai Jeshurun, Bruce enrolled as a rabbinical student at the Academy for Jewish Religion-a multi-denominational seminary where he is completing studies that will lead to rabbinical ordination.

Bruce and his wife, Liz (who is a graduate of Fordham Law School and the Columbia University School of Social Work) and their three children (one who is currently attending and two who have graduated the Heschel High School in Manhattan) moved to Israel for the academic year 2000-2001.

Bruce lives with his wife and three children on Manhattan’s Upper Westside.