Meet the Founders

Joseph Pace

Joseph Pace is a seasoned appellate attorney who has briefed and argued cases in federal and state courts around the country. He has represented both individual and corporate clients in a wide variety of trial and appellate matters involving class actions, commercial disputes, trademark infringement, arbitration, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, police brutality, Federal Credit Reporting Act claims, defamation, and FOIA. He also has extensive experience litigating First Amendment issues.

Before co-founding Pace Freeman, Joe founded J. Pace Law, where he litigated federal and state appeals and provided trial support to local criminal defense attorneys. Prior to that, he was senior legal counsel for Reprieve US, where he directed litigation efforts challenging the use of indefinite detention and drone strikes in the War on Terror and devised a First Amendment challenge to state secrecy laws enacted to conceal the source of lethal injection drugs. Prior to that, Joe was the John J. Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest & Constitutional Law at Gibbons P.C., where he specialized in civil rights impact litigation. Before his fellowship, Joe was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Joe graduated from Yale Law School where he was an Editor on the Yale Law Journal, recipient of the Israel H. Peres Prize for best student publication in the Yale Law Journal, and awarded the Potter Stewart Prize for best written brief and oral argument in the Moot Court competition.

Joe’s representative appellate matters include:

  • Represented a group of U.S. Senators as amici in an appeal challenging the federal government’s failure to release the Drone Memos (2nd Circuit)

  • Appealed a summary judgment order dismissing students’ Fair Credit Reporting Act claims against Experian and federal loan providers (8th Circuit)

  • Appealed orders denying motions to vacate arbitration awards (1st & 2nd Circuits)

  • Appealed an order denaturalizing a U.S. citizen for failing to disclose a prior drug offense (11th Circuit)

  • Represented the ACLU of NJ as amicus in a Fourth Amendment challenge to the expansion of the private search doctrine (New Jersey Supreme Court)

Joe’s representative trial matters include:

  • Secured a $1.8 million settlement against the City of New York for violating the First Amendment rights of a payphone company.

  • Successfully defended against a summary judgment motion seeking dismissal of a whistleblower complaint filed by a federal employee

  • Secured class certification in a case alleging wage-and-hour violations

  • Compelled the Federal Bureau of Prisons and NYPD to comply with Freedom of Information requests

  • Successfully defended against several rounds of summary judgment motions filed by New York City to dismiss First Amendment retaliation and unconstitutional conditions claims

Emma Freeman

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 co-founding Pace Freeman, Emma litigated federal and state appeals with Apollo Law LLC, an appellate boutique that focuses on employee and consumer rights. Before Apollo, 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 and currently serves on the City Bar’s Civil Rights Committee.

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.