Emma Freeman

Emma Freeman (646.363.6766 / emma@apollo-law.com) joined Apollo Law in 2023. 

Emma is an experienced appellate and trial advocate who has litigated various civil-rights and class-action matters in federal and state court. She has dedicated her legal practice to eradicating corporate and government misconduct and discrimination, with a particular focus on fighting sexual abuse and assault; remedying discrimination against and mistreatment of persons with disabilities; combating misconduct and excessive force by police and correctional officers; preventing housing and employment discrimination; vindicating children’s and students’ rights; and litigating other constitutional questions. 

Before joining Apollo Law, Emma was a trial litigator with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, a nationally recognized civil-rights boutique law firm in Manhattan. While there, Emma achieved a number of groundbreaking results, including reforming the New York Police Department’s and Yonkers Police Department’s discriminatory policies requiring arrestees to remove religious head coverings for mug shots and enabling a woman-led sexual wellness company to advertise on New York City subways. Emma also secured a $625,000 settlement on behalf of Jazmine Headley, who was assaulted along with her young son by NYPD officers in 2018. She obtained extensive injunctive relief (and a favorable monetary settlement) against the Mamaroneck Union Free School District on behalf of two Black students who endured extreme racial bullying. Emma negotiated a favorable settlement against a foster care agency that knowingly placed dozens of children with a sexually and physically abusive foster parent. During her tenure with an economic rights nonprofit organization, Emma litigated a consumer-protection action against the manufacturers of urinalysis drug tests whose high rate of false positive results yielded excessive discipline in correctional facilities. She also challenged The Salvation Army’s policy denying social services programs to individuals who receive medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders.

Emma received her B.A. from Yale University and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where her team won the Ames Moot Court Competition and she received the George S. Leisure Award for Best Oralist. 

Following graduation, Emma clerked for Judge Raymond Lohier, Jr. of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Patti Saris of the District of Massachusetts, and Judge Barbara Lenk of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. 

Emma was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2021 and 2022. She served as the 2020-21 Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Qualified Immunity and Police Reform of the New York City Bar Association Federal Courts Committee. She is admitted to practice in New York, Massachusetts, the Tenth Circuit, the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of New York, and the Western District of Oklahoma. 

Emma grew up in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and currently lives in Brooklyn. Outside the courtroom, Emma is likely enjoying a crossword puzzle or word game, reading fiction, or exploring local playgrounds with her family.