Marc Cohan’s work as senior staff attorney, litigation director, and executive director of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice has played a central, formative role in the development of the organization as a leader in fighting for economic justice. The impact of his knowledge and experience goes far beyond the organization itself and has informed the development of legal efforts on behalf of the economically disadvantaged nationwide. Marc leaves an impressive and daunting legacy, and we are thankful for his promise to continue to make himself available to consult on addressing the difficult issues that the organization and nation will be facing in the years ahead.

In order to build upon the impressive foundation created in large part by Marc’s efforts, NCLEJ will undertake an extensive, nationwide search for his successor. While that search is underway, we are fortunate to have two talented and experienced NCLEJ senior staff attorneys, Claudia Wilner and Travis England, step up to serve as joint interim directors of litigation.

Claudia joined NCLEJ in 2015 and has worked on a range of issues, including extensive work on civil and criminal justice debt collection practices. She joined us from the New Economy Project where she launched that organization’s groundbreaking project working with low-income New Yorkers and community groups to fight discriminatory economic practices and conducted a range of economic justice impact litigation. Prior to that, Claudia was a Skadden Fellow at the Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center and served as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a 2002 graduate of the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root Tilden Kern Scholar. Claudia has received numerous awards for her work including ones from the New York City Bar Association, the National Consumer Law Center, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Travis came to NCLEJ in 2017 after serving seven years as a Trial Attorney at the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. While at the Department of Justice, Travis focused on enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act, including work bolstering efforts to increase the availability of community-based Medicaid services, bringing actions to enforce systemic reforms in housing programs for individuals with serious mental health issues, and representing the United States in a range of cases on behalf of people with disabilities. At the Civil Rights Division, Travis was a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Working Group, where he supported the federal government’s efforts to combat discrimination affecting LGBTI communities. Travis graduated with honors from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in 2009, where he served as an Editor of the Washington University Law Review.

With Claudia and Travis’s leadership, a particularly deep pool of talent in the legal department and support staff, the support of an active and committed Board of Directors, and the extraordinary assistance from friends of NCLEJ, I am confident that we can continue to be on the cutting edge of efforts to fight for economic justice. That future work will be the greatest tribute to Marc Cohan and the legacy he leaves behind.