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Ron Kuby learned the trade beside William Kunstler — the lawyer of the Chicago Seven — working as his partner from 1983 until Kunstler’s death in 1995, defending what the pair called the poor, the oppressed, and the despised. Three decades on, Kuby’s Manhattan office remains New York’s institutional address for a particular kind of case: the protester, the wrongly convicted, the defendant whose prosecution has a political shape. It is criminal defense practiced as a civil-rights vocation, by one of the most publicly recognizable lawyers in the city.
At a Glance
| Firm | The Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby |
| Attorneys | Ronald L. Kuby; Rhiya Trivedi |
| Office | 119 W. 23rd Street, Suite 900, New York, NY 10011 (Chelsea, Manhattan); intake by phone, email, and — distinctively — postal mail for incarcerated people |
| Focus | Criminal defense for open cases; protest and movement defense; criminal appeals; post-conviction relief, including wrongful-conviction claims based on judicial, prosecutorial, or police misconduct and old convictions carrying deportation consequences for immigrants; First Amendment, terrorism-charge, and false-confession matters |
| Background | Partner and collaborator of William Kunstler, 1983–1995; own office since; radio host (WABC, Air America) and television legal commentator |
| Education | B.A. with highest distinction, University of Kansas; J.D., Cornell Law School (1983) |
| Ratings | Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent (firm, 2026); Avvo Client’s Choice and Top Contributor recognitions |
| Fee Structure | By consultation; mail intake maintained for incarcerated correspondents |
Career History
Cleveland-born, Kuby took his undergraduate degree with highest distinction at Kansas and his law degree at Cornell in 1983, then went directly into practice alongside Kunstler in the most famous radical-defense partnership in American law, trying high-profile and politically charged cases for twelve years until Kunstler’s death. The Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby continued the work: defense of activists and protesters, terrorism-charge defense in the post-9/11 era, false-confession litigation, and an actual-innocence practice that pursues convictions procured by misconduct. Alongside the practice runs one of New York’s longest media careers — talk radio on WABC and Air America and decades of television commentary — that has made Kuby the city’s most publicly visible defense voice. He practices with attorney Rhiya Trivedi, and his current bar engagement includes NYSACDL membership.
Practice Concentration
The firm’s own mission statement is unusually explicit, and we relay it as the firm’s framing: a practice devoted to opposing government efforts to disproportionately punish people for their political beliefs, race, class, gender, immigration status, creative impulses, or perceived deviance. Concretely, that cashes out in four lines: open-case criminal defense; protest and movement defense for those charged over acts of resistance; direct appeals; and post-conviction work with two emphasized constituencies — immigrants facing deportation on old convictions, and innocent people convicted through judicial, prosecutorial, or police misconduct. The firm answers the categorical question directly: yes, they are civil-rights lawyers — for criminal defendants whose civil rights have been violated.
Track Record
The firm publishes its notable-case record in named categories — actual innocence and wrongful conviction, First Amendment, terrorism, false confession, and activist and movement defense — reflecting a four-decade docket of high-profile representations that began in the Kunstler partnership and is extensively documented in national press coverage of both men’s careers. Per our standard, we attribute the firm’s case accounts as its own; the wrongful-conviction reversals in this practice area are by nature matters of public court record. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
Client Voice
The consumer-review base is small — this practice’s clients arrive by cause, referral, and reputation rather than search engine — and what exists is emphatic: one reviewer calls him “a fabulous lawyer” and recommends him without hesitation, and his Avvo Client’s Choice recognition reflects a consistent pattern of top-rated client reviews. The mail-intake channel for incarcerated people is itself a statement about who this office exists to hear from. This research did not surface any public disciplinary findings.
Beyond the Courtroom
Kuby’s decades of radio and television work constitute a sustained public-education project on criminal justice and civil liberties, and the practice itself — movement defense, protest representation, deportation-consequence post-conviction work — is community service in its most literal legal form. His daughter’s career in de-incarceration advocacy extends the family’s public-interest line.
Recognition
Sorting per our standard: the AV Preeminent rating is a peer-review credential at Martindale-Hubbell’s highest tier; the Avvo recognitions are platform-based client and contribution awards; and the deepest credential here is not an award at all but the Kunstler partnership and the forty-year public record it opened. A disclosure we apply to every New York profile: New York State does not operate a board certification program for legal specialties comparable to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, so no New York attorney profile on this site will describe its subject as a state-certified specialist, and this profile attributes no certification to Kuby.
New York Legal Backdrop
A New York criminal case moves on statutory clocks that defendants rarely know exist. After arrest, arraignment generally must occur within about twenty-four hours; a felony defendant held on bail must be released under CPL § 180.80 if the prosecution fails to secure grand jury action within the statutory period (120 hours, or 144 hours spanning a weekend or holiday). CPL § 30.30 sets speedy-trial clocks — six months on most felonies, ninety days on class A misdemeanors — and New York’s discovery reform, CPL Article 245, obligates prosecutors to turn over their evidence on an automatic timetable. Two further layers define this firm’s terrain: protest arrests, which frequently involve summonses, desk-appearance tickets, and charges that hinge on First Amendment defenses; and post-conviction practice under CPL Article 440, the vehicle for vacating convictions procured by misconduct or newly discovered evidence — with immigration consequences of old convictions governed by an entirely separate federal overlay that makes specialized counsel essential. CPL § 160.59 permits sealing of up to two eligible convictions after ten crime-free years. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The case for Kuby is category-of-one positioning: the direct professional heir to America’s most famous radical defense practice, four decades of high-profile political-case experience, a genuine wrongful-conviction and post-conviction operation, unmatched public visibility, and a declared mission that tells prospective clients exactly what this office is for. For the protester, the activist, the wrongly convicted, or the defendant whose case is really about politics, there is no more on-point practice in New York.
The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this is a small, mission-driven office, not a volume practice — a routine DWI or an apolitical fraud case is not what it exists for, and case selection presumably reflects that; the explicitly political practice identity, an asset for aligned clients, will not suit everyone; there is no prosecutorial background here, by philosophical design; the principal was admitted in 1983, inviting the ordinary longevity questions; and the consumer-review base is minimal, as disclosed above.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of The Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby. Primary sources: the firm’s website (kubylaw.com), including its mission, practice, notable-case-category, attorney, and contact pages (practice scope and the mission framing relayed above; the mail-intake channel; attorney roster). Independent verification: Wikipedia’s sourced biography and adjacent encyclopedic coverage (Cleveland birth; Kansas and Cornell 1983 degrees; the Kunstler partnership 1983–1995; radio and television career); Martindale profiles (the 23rd Street office address; the firm’s 2026 AV Preeminent rating; practice designations; Avvo recognitions); NYSACDL membership listing (current bar engagement); Yelp listing (the client review quoted in Client Voice). The Kunstler-era and subsequent high-profile case history is documented in extensive contemporaneous national press coverage. Statutes cited in the New York Legal Backdrop were verified against the New York Criminal Procedure Law (§§ 30.30, 160.59, 180.80, Article 245, and Article 440).
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by The Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.