Peter Henner opened his solo law practice on August 1, 1984, after working as an Assistant Counsel for the New York State Assembly Majority and as the General Counsel for Council 82, AFSCME. 

Since Peter's initial admission to the bars of both New York and New Jersey in 1980, his practice has been strongly rooted in the political and personal commitments and social values of the late 1960s.  He has never forgotten that he became a lawyer to further his work on behalf of the environment, to support worker and union rights, to defend civil liberties, and to advocate for social justice.  An important principle of  Jewish Law proclaims: "Justice, Justice, Shall Ye Pursue" (Deut. 16:20).  Peter has tried to implement this principle in his professional practice.  

It is not always clear who the "good guys" are in a particular situation.  In the environmental field, particularly when dealing with energy and solid waste issues, many competing forces have legitimate, opposing interests that are entitled to legal representation.  In labor relations, issues are often even more muddled; not all unions and employees are good, nor is all management, especially in the public sector, bad.  Many lawyers have used this fact to justify representation of plainly bad actors.  On the other hand, there are lawyers who, for business reasons, will limit their practice to one side of a dispute (e.g. law firms that only represent unions).

Some of Peter's clients may not pass an artificial litmus test of "political correctness".  However, Peter's practice is dedicated to the representation of individuals, organizations and entities that are either affirmatively working to remedy a wrong or to promote a socially important principle, or who are responding to an attempt to deprive them of important rights or benefits.  This is not to say that all of Peter's clients are in the right all of the time; it is to say that Peter selects clients based upon a belief that representation of the particular client advances the cause of justice. 

Peter does not select clients on the basis of "labels", but sets firm limits based on the actual activities of the potential client.  For example, 1) although Peter primarily represents unions and individual employees, he will represent management in labor relations, especially governmental bodies and non-profit organizations, but not union busters, 2) he will represent landowners and municipalities with respect to land use matters, but not large developers or significant environmental violators, 3) he will represent individual police and correction officers accused of misconduct, especially when he believes that they are wrongly accused, but not corrupt law enforcement agencies.

Peter's clients include the municipality that is seeking to become a "green" city, the community group seeking to stop an ill-considered landfill, the civil servant fired for criticizing the County Executive, the union trying to organize a union-busting company, the victim of environmental outrage, anywhere in the world, as well as people and groups who have been mistreated by arbitrary governmental actions, or oppressed by corporate greed and arrogance.  In addition, Peter has proactively investigated and litigated claims against corporate and municipal polluters under the Clean Water Act, against corporations that have defrauded the United States under the Federal False Claims Act (the "Qui Tam" statute), and against responsible parties under antitrust laws.

In August 2009, Peter's docket includes representation of: 1)  a whistleblower in a qui tam lawsuit against a national medical provider, 2) Lieutenant Grace Pruitt in her efforts to smash the blue glass ceiling of the Utica, N.Y. Police Department, after she was denied a promotion to Captain and asked to train a less senior man to be her supervisor, 3) Save the Pine Bush, in a lawsuit seeking  to stop the City of Albany from expanding a regional landfill into a unique ecological area, and 4) Brunswick Smart Growth, in a legal challenge to a Town's failure to comply with its own Comprehensive Plan. He is also researching prospective claims against several environmental outlaws. The American Bar Association has just published Peter's  book "Human Rights and the Alien Tort Statute: Law History and Analysis,"  and he is looking for opportunities to pursue international human rights claims.

A lawyer needs to make a living, but it is critical that a law practice, especially one established by a career activist, serve the goal of promoting a better world.  To quote Rabbi Hillel's most famous saying:

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
 If I am not for others, what am I?
 And if not now, when?"

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