Lauren Zimmerman

Lauren Zimmerman is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully represented clients in a wide array of matters in federal and state courts and arbitral panels across the United States. Lauren’s practice includes complex commercial civil litigation, white collar defense, and corporate crisis management and investigations. In addition to her private sector work, she has an active public interest and pro bono practice.

Lauren was recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of the best and brightest litigators in the country in the Benchmark 40 & Under Guide.  Lauren’s litigation successes and commitment to justice and equity have also been recognized by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, which named her to its list of the 40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40, as well as Chambers, which shortlisted Lauren in its DEI: Outstanding Contribution category.

Commercial Litigation, Corporate Defense, and Investigations 

In her commercial practice, Lauren focuses on complex contractual disputes, bankruptcy litigation, and consumer class actions. She also has extensive experience in board and special committee assignments and representing C-Suite executives and high-net-worth individuals in corporate and family law matters.

In her corporate defense and investigations practice, Lauren has represented individuals and corporations in a wide array of government and internal investigations, including at the request of boards of directors and special committees. Recently, Lauren represented a former-executive-turned whistleblower in an ongoing joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She also led an internal investigation of alleged illegal self-dealing and financial fraud by an executive and shareholder of a pharmaceutical wholesaler, and an internal investigation and representation of a cryptocurrency bank in investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lauren also has extensive criminal defense experience. She has successfully represented clients at arraignments and in a wide range of criminal trials and administrative hearings. She has also conducted successful pretrial suppression hearings challenging searches, witness identifications, and other types of evidence.

Pro Bono and Public Interest Litigation 

In addition to her commercial litigation, Lauren has diverse pro bono and public interest practices. Currently, Lauren is litigating two First Amendment cases in Federal court involving the removal from public school libraries in multiple Florida school districts of “And Tango Makes Three,” a widely lauded children’s book that conveys that same-sex relationships and families with same-sex parents exist; that they can be happy, healthy, and loving; and that same-sex parents can adopt and raise healthy children, as well as other books with diverse perspectives. She also represented a clean energy nonprofit organization in a precedent-setting case before the Utah Public Service Commission to demonstrate the costs and benefits of solar energy as well as public servants in a class action suit against student loan servicer Navient, alleging that the company prevented them from accessing their federal public service loan forgiveness. Lauren has authored two amicus briefs, a Ninth Circuit brief advocating for economically sound applications of antitrust law to complex facts in the healthcare industry, and another asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas state court death sentence on behalf of several organizations that advocate for victims of family violence. Before joining Selendy Gay, Lauren was a trial lawyer at Brooklyn Defender Services, where she practiced indigent criminal defense.

Affiliations & Community Involvement 

Lauren is an active member of the Human Rights Campaign Federal Club Council, Out Leadership, and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association. She is on the board of Access Justice Brooklyn, a non-profit organization that offers free legal advice and representation to people with low incomes, especially in marginalized communities.

Lauren earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Ursula Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida.

Representative Matters

• American Federation of Teachers union: Represented members in a settlement of a nationwide class action lawsuit with Navient, one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers, challenging Navient’s practices with respect to advising federal student loan borrowers on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The team secured a novel class settlement under which Navient agreed, among other things, to enhance its practices for public service workers (teachers, nurses, Legal Aid workers, firemen and policemen, for example) and, in addition, to contribute millions to a nonprofit organization that provides education and student loan counseling to public service workers. Selendy Gay successfully secured a unanimous affirmance of the approval on appeal in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• Fairfield Sentry Limited (in liquidation) et al.: Represented foreign representatives of funds in Chapter 15 proceedings in Bankruptcy Court seeking to recover approximately $6 billion in redemption payments from hundreds of entities arising out of the Madoff scheme.
• A major academic institution: Conducted an internal investigation of an apparent hate crime on a university campus and analyzed the school’s overall security systems and safety compliance policies to recommend changes to those systems and protocols. 
• Vote Solar: Represented a clean energy nonprofit organization, in a precedent-setting case against Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) before the Utah Public Service Commission (PSC) to demonstrate the costs and benefits of solar energy in the state’s net metering program. RMP, Utah’s electricity utility, conducted a study of how customers with rooftop solar panels impact the grid and the utilities overall demand for power. In partnership with Vote Solar, Selendy Gay prepared our own rigorously developed proposal to be evaluated in parallel with RMP’s. The PSC, which traditionally sides with RMP, found in our favor that many of the values of customer generated solar do exist and included them in their export rate, including avoided generation capacity costs and avoided distribution capacity costs.
• McKinsey & Co.: Represented McKinsey in a bench trial in bankruptcy court in Houston, Texas, in which Jay Alix, through Mar-Bow Value Partners, objected to the debtors’ application to retain McKinsey on the basis that McKinsey’s Bankruptcy Rule 2014 disclosures were noncompliant, and that McKinsey was not disinterested. The case, In re Westmoreland Coal Co., Inc., was dismissed after 8 days of trial testimony after McKinsey reached a comprehensive settlement regarding future bankruptcy disclosures with the U.S. Trustee.
• Organizations that advocate for victims of family violence: Filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas state court death sentence, arguing that the Texas court’s ruling conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and ignores well-established developmental psychology. The brief was filed on behalf of the National Family Violence Law Center, the California Protective Parents Association, and the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment & Appeals Project.
• Healthcare Economics Scholars: Drafted Ninth Circuit amicus brief on behalf of 13 economics scholars advocating for economically sound applications of antitrust law to complex facts in the healthcare industry.
• A high-net-worth client: Represented client in a matrimonial action involving cutting edge legal issues regarding contractual interpretation of and statutory application to the client’s prenuptial agreement, spendthrift trusts, income, cash flow, and “lifestyle” analyses for purpose of alimony.
• Represented a transgender woman seeking asylum in the U.S. after facing persecution in her home country, the Dominican Republic, due to her gender identity and sexual orientation. Relying solely on the strength of our briefing, affidavits, and other supporting evidence, the judge granted asylum without requiring a hearing.