Matan Koch ’05, an associate at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, was nominated by President Barack Obama ’91 to serve as a member of the National Council on Disability.
Koch, who was born with cerebral palsy, has been actively involved in the disability community for many years. From 2001 to 2002, he served as the vice chairman of the New Haven Commission on Disabilities where he also chaired the Americans with Disabilities Act Subcommittee. He has also served as a member of the Union for Reform Judaism-Department of Jewish Family Concerns’ Disability Task Force and currently serves on the union’s Special Needs Camping Committee. While working in the Legal Division of Procter & Gamble, he was a member of the company’s People with Disabilities Network. Koch also served on the board of Jewish Vocational Services of Cincinnati.
His litigation practice focuses primarily on commercial disputes and Lanham Act matters, but has encompassed a broad array of litigation areas, including bankruptcy, real estate, and employment. His pro bono practice has included representation of clients seeking to be appointed guardians of their adult child and assisting with the preparation of an amicus brief for the New York State Court of Appeals for a leading mental health nonprofit.
Koch received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2005 and B.A. in religious studies in 2002 from Yale. He served as the president of Yale’s Student Disability Community.