Jeffrey D. Grant Esq.

February 22 2024

Jeff Grant on The JustPod, The American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Podcast

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Jeff Grant’s Remarkable Recovery from Addiction and His Return from Federal Prison, to the Life of the Law

NEW YORK, NY, USA, February 23, 2024. After overcoming a personal battle with addiction to prescription opioids and serving nearly fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime, Jeff Grant has emerged with a new purpose. He has founded GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm in New York City that offers private general counsel services to clients facing or who have previously faced white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings, as well as their companies and families.

Grant’s journey to founding GrantLaw, PLLC has been a long and challenging one. After struggling with addiction and serving time in prison, he has emerged with a new perspective and a desire to help others facing similar challenges. After earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, he co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. and the White Collar Support Group (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first support group devoted to people navigating the white collar criminal justice system. He was reinstated to the New York Bar in 2021. With his unique background and experience, Grant is able to provide a level of understanding and empathy that is often lacking in traditional law firms.

Grant recently was interviewed on the JustPod, the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Podcast hosted by lawyers Justin Danilewitz and Geonard Butler. “It takes about 3 hours to drive from Greenwich, Connecticut to the Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania. Jeffrey D. Grant knows this because he took that drive on an Easter Sunday in 2006. A lawyer whose life has taken a wrong turn on the road to addiction, Jeff Grant left the upscale life he had cultivated in Connecticut to enter what would be his new home for the duration of his 18-month Federal criminal sentence,” stated Danilewitz. He added, ” Jeff was released from custody in 2007 and was able to recover from addiction, obtain a divinity degree, co-found the world’s first White Collar Support Group and found GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm providing general counsel services to people navigation the white collar criminal justice system and their families and businesses…”

GrantLaw, PLLC is not your typical law firm. It offers a holistic approach to legal services, taking into account the personal and emotional toll that white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings can have on individuals and their families. The firm also offers support and guidance for companies facing these types of legal challenges, recognizing the impact they can have on the entire organization.

According to New Yorker Staff Reporter Evan Osnos, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”

Grant’s ultimate goal with GrantLaw, PLLC is to help individuals and companies navigate the complex legal landscape of white-collar crime and regulatory proceedings with compassion and understanding. He hopes to use his personal experience to not only provide legal counsel, but also to inspire and support others who may be going through similar struggles.

Grant is member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Social Impact Entertainment Society. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Legal Action Center (NYC), is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Reentry & Collateral Consequences Committee, and is a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee on Legal Assistance Programs.

For more information on GrantLaw, PLLC and the services they offer, please visit their website at www.grantlaw.com. Grant is also available for interviews and speaking engagements to share his story and discuss the unique approach of his law firm.

Jeffrey D Grant GrantLaw, PLLC +1 212-859-3512 jgrant@grantlaw.com

Visit us on social media: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram YouTube TikTok

Read The New Yorker article here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/30/life-after-white-collar-crime

To Reach Jeff Grant:

Progressive Prison Ministries/ White Collar Support Group: http://prisonist.org

GrantLaw, PLLC: http://GrantLaw.com

February 13 2024

White Collar Support Group to Hold Landmark 400th Meeting, on Zoom, Feb. 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Start Here™.

Jeff Grant Articles, Blog, Recent/Upcoming Events & Appearances GrantLaw PLLC, JEFF GRANT, Jeffrey D. Grant Esq., prisonist.org, progressive prison ministries, start here, white collar, white collar week, white-collar crime, white-collar support group

WEST PALM BEACH, FL, February 13th: Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, will hold its 400th weekly White Collar Support Group™ meeting online on Zoom this Monday, February 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. It is open to those directly justice-impacted only. Newcomers should register at prisonist.org/contact.

Co-founded by husband and wife, ordained minister and white collar attorney, Jeff Grant (Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq.) and Lynn Springer in Greenwich, CT, the White Collar Support Group™ held its first meeting online in 2016. Since then, over the past 8 years, the support group has had over 900 participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, South America and the Caribbean.

Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide practical information, and spiritual and emotional support, to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless while navigating the white collar criminal justice system. Its objective is to provide guidance in finding a path to a healthy, reinvented life on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems.

Meetings are held online weekly on Mondays on Zoom beginning at 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT and last approximately 75 minutes. Each meeting is centered on a relevant topic such as preparing for prison, family issues, finances, careers after prison, conquering fear, mental health and substance abuse, etc. Members are given the opportunity to reflect on and share their experiences, to ask questions, and are encouraged to embrace group newcomers. The support group continues to grow with each weekly gathering.

“The White Collar Support Group™ ’s purpose is bring people out of the isolation that is destroying them, and into a supportive community that provides solutions. At the end of the day, if we can help people untangle themselves from their myriad problems and find a clear path to a successful, productive and joyous life, that’s a success story,” said Grant. “We have found that things go much easier, and better outcomes can be reached, when people with white collar criminal justice issues reach out to us early in their journeys – when they make us their first call – before they’ve made too many mistakes and used up too much of their precious resources. It’s the reason why, to celebrate our 400th meeting and the beginning of our ninth year, our new outreach initiative is called, ‘Start Here™’,” Grant added.

White Collar Support Group™ Deputy Director William Livolsi (Bill) agrees. Livolsi pointed out, “we don’t give advice; we share our collective experience. We have hundreds of support group members who give of themselves freely and share their time and resources with each other. It’s a beautiful, and extremely helpful, way to learn, grow, and get through the most difficult times of families’ lives.”

The support group and community have been featured in many national and regional media, including the New Yorker, Entrepreneur, Reuters, Forbes and Greenwich Magazine, as well as major podcasts such as The Rich Roll Podcast. Grant has also been a Main Stage presenter at prestigious conferences such as The Nantucket Project. In addition to being a popular interviewee, Grant has helped thousands of his community members navigate their past and push towards re-establishing themselves as productive contributors to society.

With both Law and Master of Divinity degrees, Grant provides a unique perspective of understanding about what community members are coping with and facing ahead of them. Grant himself spent almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white collar crime he committed in 2001. In 2021, Grant’s law license was reinstated by the New York Supreme Court (GrantLaw.com).

According to Evan Osnos, writer/reporter for The New Yorker, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”

Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who served time in a Federal prison and is a member of the White Collar Support Group™ , said, “the group is a network of welcoming, non-judgmental, and understanding men and women who share their similar experiences in an open and nurturing environment.”

Complementing the weekly meetings is a blog on the ministry’s widely regarded site, prisonist.org, where materials are published for community members to learn more about white collar criminal justice issues. Its White Collar Week podcast has also become a critical source for this community, providing a platform for sector experts and for those that have gone through the journey. Guests have included current and former politicians, financial executives, white collar criminal defense attorneys, federal agents, judges, Hollywood producers and more.

About Progressive Prison Ministries:
Established in 2013 in Greenwich, CT, Progressive Prison Ministries is the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families. More information is available on its website at prisonist.org. Start Here™.

For additional information, contact:
Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div., T: (212) 859-3512; Email: info@prisonist.org, www.prisonist.org, Media contact: press@grantlaw.com. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram

March 11 2023

Podcast: Jeff Grant was Interviewed on the Justice Impacted Podcast with Kristine Bunch: “From Tribulation to Triumph,” March 10, 2023

Jeff Grant Blog, Recent/Upcoming Events & Appearances criminal justice, Federal prison, GrantLaw PLLC, incarceration, interrogating justice, JEFF GRANT, Jeffrey D. Grant Esq., justice impacted podcast, kristine bunch, prisonist.org, progressive prison ministries, second chance, white collar, white-collar crime, white-collar support group

Jeff lost his wife, house, law practice, law license and even his freedom when he hit rock bottom after more than a decade of prescription opioid addiction. But his road to recovery led to a path filled with redemption and a future he could never have imagined.

Listen on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/7fB4iqPd7s4cM5xZjCR1oD?si=62520c67c8fd4b5b&utm_source=oembed

Listen on Player.fm:

https://player.fm/series/3369601/357652466

Listen on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/justice-impacted-with-kristine-bunch/id1634616052?i=100060362359

About Jeff Grant

Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq…After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost 14 months in Federal prison (2006 – 07) for a white collar crime he committed in 2001 when he was a lawyer, Jeff Grant started his own reentry. He earned a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, majoring in Social Ethics. After graduating, Jeff was called to serve at an inner city church in Bridgeport, CT as Associate Minister and Director of Prison Ministries. He then co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families. In May 2021, Jeff’s law license was reinstated by the NY Supreme Court. In August 2022, Jeff celebrated 20 years of continuous sobriety.

Connect with Jeff…

• Grant Law Firm: Specializing in white collar crime prosecutions. Email | 212.859.3512
• White Collar Support Group: The world’s first support group devoted to those navigating the white-collar criminal justice system. Email
• Life After White Collar Crime – as featured in the New Yorker
• The Criminal Insider Podcast: with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9am ET on the first and third Friday of each month.

Credits:

Host: Kristine Bunch, Indiana exoneree and Outreach Coordinator for Interrogating Justice and How to Justice
Producer: Tammy Alexander, creator and co-host of the Snow Files Podcast
Announcer: Eric Brenner, actor and voice over artist

How to Justice is a non-profit group that seeks to raise up justice-impacted people. Its goal? Provide easy-to-read answers to your questions about your rights before, during and after prison.

Interrogating Justice is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. Our team of attorneys, advocates and allies take on some of the biggest legal, social and ethical justice-reform issues today. Our goal is simple: help shed light on the obstacles preventing our justice system from being just.

October 5 2022

Entrepreneur: 9 Things to Know when Hiring a White Collar Criminal Defense Lawyer, by Jeff Grant, Esq.

Jeff Grant Articles, Blog attorney, criminal defense, criminal justice, entrepreneur, entrepreneur magazine, Federal prison, GrantLaw, GrantLaw PLLC, grantlaw.com, incarceration, JEFF GRANT, Jeffrey D. Grant Esq., law, lawyer, second chance, white collar, white-collar crime, white-collar support group

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Hiring a defense attorney is a monumental task, and most are monumentally unprepared for the effort.

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By Jeff Grant, Reprinted from entrepreneur.com, Sept. 7. 2021

Hiring a white-collar defense lawyer is a monumental task — and one that most entrepreneurs and businesspeople, even those who are sophisticated legal consumers, are monumentally unprepared to do.

I should know.

I’m a lawyer and entrepreneur who became addicted to prescription opioids and served almost 14 months in federal prison for a white-collar crime.

I was disbarred, and then step-by-step, lesson-by-lesson, I worked my way through the ordeal.

On May 5, 2021, my law license was reinstated by the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Here are some takeaways I learned from over three decades of experience on both sides of the legal system:

1. You are in trauma, whether you know it or not

Your entrepreneurship, intellect and survival skills have betrayed you. You are in pain, and will do — and pay — almost anything to make the pain go away. You’ve probably been looking over your shoulder for a long time. It’s normal to be terrified; who wouldn’t be?

Practice point: no matter what you do, the pain is not going away any time soon. Beware of anyone who tells you differently.

2. Long-term plan instead of short-term relief

You know this, but you are probably in fear of what you think is the worst thing that can happen — prison. Prison is not the worst thing that can happen—the worst thing that can happen is not having a comeback story. Keep your eye on the prize. That is, a carefully and thoughtfully constructed long-term plan for health, purpose and prosperity for you and your family. It’s okay (in fact, it’s vital) to give yourself the time and space to step back and make good, thoughtful decisions. You are in the desert, and it will be a long journey to the promised land.

Practice point: This is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself.

3. Your brother-in-law probably knows nothing about hiring a white collar defense lawyer…

…Neither does your dentist, haircutter or almost anyone else. Everyone around you is most likely offering “well-intended advice.” And maybe already picking at your bones. But, there is dependable professional help out there in the form of private general counsel with specific experience in the intricacies of white collar defense and all of the other legal, business, family and emotional issues you are likely to face.

Practice point: These are shark- infested waters and a great general counsel can help you navigate them.

4. There is very little chance that your case will go to trial

Over the past two decades, less than two percent of white collar prosecutions have gone to trial. This means that whether a “trial lawyer” has spent much of the last twenty years as a prosecutor or as a criminal defense attorney, they probably have no (or very little) white collar trial experience. But, we are stuck in an old paradigm where we think we need a trial attorney to swoop in and save the day. This might happen on television, but it almost never happens in real life.

Practice point: Are you suffering from Perry Mason syndrome? Get real, and fast.

5. Ever wonder why lawyers have such fancy offices?

Do you want to pay for expensive overhead (maybe you do) or for excellent lawyering? Isn’t it more important to find out if you and an attorney have a great connection, and can work together? Has your defense attorney taken the time to really understand you and your family, your back story, all of your issues, and your life goals?

Practice point: Are you sure these are the professionals you want to trust with your life?

6. Your criminal defense budget

Your criminal defense lawyer can’t do it all; you’ll need a team. Your defense attorney’s job is to marshal the best resources in order to make a persuasive presentation to the prosecutors, to the probation officer at your pre-sentence investigation, and to the judge. How much of your criminal defense budget/retainer will be allocated for experts (forensic accountants, investigators, mitigation experts, medical experts, etc.) to give a complete and accurate picture of you, your family and your side of the facts?

Practice point: Make sure you fully understand — and approve — the plan and budget up front.

7. Outside your criminal defense budget

Your issues are most likely way bigger, and more complicated, than just your criminal matter. How much of your overall budget will be allocated for other attorneys and professionals (business attorneys, tax attorneys, bankruptcy lawyers, family law, civil litigation, estate planning, accountants, etc.)? How much of your overall budget will be allocated for other obligations (restitution, fines, forfeiture, taxes, antecedent debt, alimony, child support, etc.)?

Practice point: Your defense attorney’s job is to get you the best sentence — they will probably not help you balance other important issues that need to be addressed.

8. Does your spouse/significant other need separate counsel?

In a word, yes. Or at least, probably. You’ve been shouldering this thing alone for so long, it’s hard to be a good partner again. Believe it or not, your spouse’s interests are probably not fully aligned with yours. They have their own body of rights that deserve professional attention.

Practice point: Tell the truth, don’t tell your spouse/significant other that everything will be “okay.”

9. Out of isolation and into community

You don’t have to go through this alone. Believe it or not, there is a rich community of people who have been prosecuted for white collar crimes, and their families, who want to give of themselves freely to help you.

Practice point: Don’t be afraid to reach out, join a white collar support group and benefit from the experiences of those who have been there before you.