Raun Rasmussen has been the Executive Director of Legal Services NYC since June 2011. From 2003 to 2011 he served as LSNYC’s Chief of Litigation and Advocacy, directing the Legal Support Unit, which provides litigation and advocacy leadership, training and support to legal services providers across New York City.
Mr. Rasmussen began his legal career as a housing attorney at South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of LSNYC). He later became Director of the Housing Unit and then Director of Litigation, supporting the development of affirmative litigation and advocacy, helping to develop one of the first foreclosure prevention projects in the country to combat predatory lending practices, and creating the Child Care Network Support Project, which provides legal services and training to home-based child care providers.
Mr. Rasmussen has written numerous articles on residential displacement, foreclosure-related issues, ethics, affirmative litigation and leadership and management issues. He is a recipient of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Felix Fishman Award for Exemplary Service, the New York County Lawyers Association Public Service Award, and the New York City Bar Association Legal Services Award. He serves on the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice and is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Legal Services Coalition. Mr. Rasmussen holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.