Many low-income criminal defendants in Queens who need a free attorney will now be represented by a public defender organization based in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Defender Services on Tuesday took over a $34 million contract with the city to provide criminal defense in Queens. The change follows a period of disarray at Queens Defenders during which the organization’s founder and executive director, Lori Zeno, became a defendant herself.
In January, the board placed Zeno on leave and banned her from the property, the Queens Daily Eagle reported at the time. Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Zeno and her husband, Rashad Ruhani, on charges of wire fraud, theft and money laundering conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“After 29 years of experience and expertise serving Brooklyn, we are proud to bring the same dedication and excellence to Queens residents,” said Lisa Schreibersdorf, executive director and founder of Brooklyn Defender Services. “We will continue in our mission to provide outstanding representation and advocacy free of cost to people facing loss of freedom, family separation and other serious legal harms.”
New York City contracts with a patchwork of nonprofit legal services groups to provide representation for low-income New Yorkers in criminal, family, housing and immigration courts. The Legal Aid Society is the largest public defender organization and operates throughout the city. For nearly three decades, each of the five boroughs has also had at least one additional public defender organization to share the caseload. Various other organizations provide more specialized legal services, including for housing and child custody proceedings.
Queens Defenders was established in 1996, and since then has represented hundreds of thousands of people who couldn’t afford a private attorney, according to its website. Brooklyn Defender Services is hiring Queens Defenders’ entire staff and taking on its existing cases.
Brooklyn Defender Services said it will handle about 16,000 new cases in Queens’ criminal and family courts each year. The organization will also offer its Queens clients help with housing, government benefits, immigration and child services investigations, Schreibersdorf said.
According to prosecutors, Zeno and her husband stole at least $60,000 from Queens Defenders and spent the money on a vacation to Bali, expensive meals, an 85-inch smart TV, luxury clothing and teeth whitening treatments.
Tax records show Zeno was the highest paid executive at any of the city’s major public defender organizations in 2023, even though other groups have larger caseloads. Her salary was more than $430,000 that year, while Queens Defenders’ costs exceeded their revenue by more than $415,000, according to tax filings.
Brooklyn Defender Services assumes its new role in Queens as several legal services groups are considering a work stoppage. Attorneys at the Legal Aid Society voted to authorize a strike as the group negotiates with management for higher pay and more flexibility for remote work. At least two other legal services groups — the Goddard Riverside Law Project and the Office of the Appellate Defender — have also voted to strike if they can’t reach a deal with management.
Brooklyn Defender Services, Queens Defenders and several other public defender organizations in New York City were established after the Legal Aid Society’s last strike in the mid-1990s, when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani threatened to stop contracting with the nonprofit and invited new groups to work with the city.
Andrew Eichen, chair of the Brooklyn Defenders union chapter, said in a statement that the union played no role in the organization’s takeover of Queens Defenders’ contract.
“However, we look forward to the greater Brooklyn Defenders Union representing all workers in both shops, and we hope that our combined efforts obtain a fair contract for all members as we bargain over the next year,” he said.
This story was updated with additional comment.
