Mara Fleder joins Wertheimer LLC after spending ten years as a public defender at the Bronx Defenders. As a supervising attorney in the Family Defense Practice, Mara advocated on behalf of parents who had been forcibly separated from their children to try to end unnecessary removals, mitigate trauma and develop safety plans so that children would only be placed in foster care when necessary. She litigated all aspects of abuse, neglect, and termination of parental rights proceedings and related custody, visitation, family offense and paternity matters.  

In her time at the Bronx Defenders, Mara handled complex medical cases, argued cases on appeal before the First Department, and collaborated with advocates in criminal, civil and immigration practices to support clients’ holistic representation needs. In her capacity as a supervising attorney, Mara supervised, trained, and mentored staff attorneys in client representation and co-counseled cases when needed.

From 2016-2017, before becoming a supervising attorney, Mara served as the clinical instructor to Cardozo Law School’s Family Defense Clinic, where she taught a weekly seminar and supervised law students participating in field work at the Bronx Defenders. Mara came to the Bronx Defenders as a Skadden Fellow in 2013.  

Mara is a graduate of Tufts University, summa cum laude (2008) and Harvard Law School (2013). She is admitted to the New York Bar and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.