An attorney with the Bronx Defenders felt she had no other choice but to cross the picket line on Tuesday after an immigration judge ordered her to appear in court and the organization's managers did not commit to covering the proceedings without her, a union representative has told Law360.

According to the union, a judge threatened to refer the attorney to the ethics board if she did not show up to court, denying a request from BxD's management to continue the hearing. Management then allegedly told her that she must return to work unconditionally if she did show up.

"BxD Management has put this striking attorney in an impossible position: cross the picket line or run the risk of her client going unrepresented at a significant hearing on Tuesday, not to mention a potential referral to the immigration court ethics board," the union said in an Instagram post.

BxD's management did not comment on the matter.

The news comes over a week into the union's strike, which began on July 27. Several issues remain outstanding in the negotiations, with a major point of contention remaining the prospect of severing the salary scales of lawyers and social workers, which the organization's leadership has maintained is needed to improve attorney recruitment and retention.

The union told Law360 last week that it has since offered to agree to a differential for attorneys.

"[The bargaining committee] offered to [tentatively agree to] management's offers on a number of other open proposals like tracking, differentials and noncitizen protections in order to keep pay parity," the union wrote in another Instagram post last night. "Most recently on July 29, 2026, BC countered with $92k + $3k differential for attorneys ($95k total) contingent upon the atty/[social worker] scale remaining tethered, and $92k for social workers. This offer balanced the Union's interest in keeping attorneys and social workers on the same scale with management's supposed concern for paying attorneys more. Management rejected this offer."

The Bronx Defenders union is one of three unions represented by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys — a United Auto Workers affiliate that represents more than 3,500 legal services workers in and around New York City — who went on strike this summer after their contracts expired at the end of June. The Brooklyn Defender Services Union ended its strike with a deal on July 24, and the Neighborhood Defender Services union did the same last night.

--Editing by Alex Hubbard.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.