Today, the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law announced it has expanded its team through the hiring of Benjamin Burger ’05 and Karena Rahall as Senior Staff Attorneys. The expansion of the team is a result of the $1M in funding the Perlmutter Center received from international law firm Milbank LLP earlier this year whch also established the Milbank Exoneration and Resentencing Review Unit at the Perlmutter Center. 

As Senior Staff Attorney, Benjamin’s work focuses on investigating claims of actual innocence and fighting the use of junk science in the criminal legal system. Prior to joining the Perlmutter Center, he worked as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society. During his time there, he worked in their Digital Forensics Unit, where he advised attorneys on digital forensics and surveillance issues. Throughout his career, Benjamin has also taught numerous continuing legal education (CLE) programs on topics including digital searches at the border and authentication of digital evidence. 

In her role as Senior Staff Attorney, Karena is thrilled to continue serving both students and clients in need after spending her legal career in public interest and legal academia. Before joining the Perlmutter Center, she spent 10 years as a public defender in Brooklyn and then worked in post-conflict countries helping to train lawyers and set up public defense offices. For the past six years, Karena was a supervisor and appellate public defender and taught the Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic at NYU School of Law. 

“Together, Benjamin and Karena bring a wealth of experience in the fields of forensics and criminal defense,” said Josh Dubin, Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center. “They have a proven track record in criminal justice reform efforts and we’re all looking forward to seeing them put their skills into action. We’re grateful for the partnership with Milbank that granted us with the funding to make this team expansion a reality.” 

The growth of the Perlmutter Center’s team began late last September with the hiring of Sarah Chu as Director of Policy & Reform. Sarah is a national forensic science policy expert and, in the last year, has worked to promote several bills that address urgent criminal justice issues in New York State, including the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act, which expands opportunities for people to file motions to vacate judgment and challenge their original conviction. Sarah has over 16 years of forensic science experience. Read her full bio here. 

ABOUT THE PERLMUTTER CENTER FOR LEGAL JUSTICE AT CARDOZO LAW 

The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice trains students and lawyers in the proper use of scientific evidence, focusing on the misuse of forensic science that potentially contributes to wrongful convictions. In addition, the Center seeks justice for those individuals incarcerated with excessive sentences through parole work and clemency requests. The Perlmutter Center was established through a $15-million philanthropic donation from the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation.