Peter Henner has maintained a full time solo law practice since August 1, 1984, dedicated to the representation of individuals and organizations who have been wronged by corporations or governments or who are fighting for social justice, particularly victims of discrimination, labor organizations and union dissidents, environmental advocates, and opponents of obnoxious projects.  Before opening his own office, he had served as the General Counsel for Council 82, AFSCME and as an Assistant Counsel for the New York State Assembly Majority. 

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. 

Peter has been practicing law for more than 30 years.  If he is going to continue to practice, it is more inportant than ever that his law practice promotes the cause of justice.  Peter seeks cases where he can meaningfully advocate for social and political change.

It is not always clear who are the "good guys" 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).

In 2010, Peter represented the teachers' association of a charter school, individual teachers and parents, and ultimately the charter school itself, in a lawsuit challenging the determination of the State of New York to close the school.  Peter strongly believes in public schools and, in principle, does not support the idea of charter schools as an alternative.  However, he also believed that the particular charter school was an important resource for the community and that the coalition of parents, teachers and local leaders deserved support in their efforts to keep the school open.

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 a 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 female police Lieutenant seeking to smash the blue glass ceiling of a large urban police department, the union trying to organize a union-busting company, the whistleblower seeking to expose government fraud, 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.  Peter has proactively investigated and litigated claims against corporate and municipal polluters under the Clean Water Act, and corporations that have defrauded the United States under the Federal False Claims Act (the "Qui Tam" statute).

From May to July 2011, Peter went to Mongolia to work as an advisor for the Mongolian NGO, Center for Human Rights Development, under the auspices of the International Senior Lawyers Project.  Peter helped to establish the first Mongolian law student clinic dedicated to public interest law, conducted a lawyer training program, and generally advised on public interest litigation, particularly against international mining companies seeking to conduct operations in Mongolia.

In December 2011, Peter is representing the chairman of a state public authority in his efforts to ensure that the authority fulfills its public mission, the Town of New Scotland and a cross-section of the local community in litigation to reverse the decision of the Postal Service to close a local post office, and environmental activists who have been targeted for retaliatory building code enforcement by the City of Albany.  He is also seeking to revive the Alliance for Environmental Renewal, an organization that he helped to establish in 1993 and represented in numerous citizen suits under the Clean Water Act.  

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: