When state actors—such as police, public officials, or prison guards—harm people, the law provides various remedies, including the private right to bring a lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. This act is also known as “Section 1983,” because it is codified in Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code (don’t worry, there won’t be a test!).

We handle a wide array of these suits on behalf of individuals, as well as in class actions. We have represented clients in cases involving injuries caused by police during arrests, denial of medical care in prison, prohibitions on recording public officials, and many other forms of government misconduct.

New York, like many other states, has a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) that allows ordinary people to demand information about the operations of the government. We assist at all stages of the FOIL process, whether it is crafting requests to promote transparency, filing administrative appeals and litigation when the government withholds information, or fighting to enforce a court order the government is skirting.

In New York’s criminal court system, you sometimes need a trusted advocate to help you navigate a labyrinth that is often confusing and intimidating. We provide representation in both individual cases and in mass protester defense, where solidarity among those charged is the goal.

Getting served with a lawsuit can be scary. Especially when it’s harassing nonsense: sexual predators suing survivors, wealthy corporations targeting their critics, or similarly power-imbalanced fights. We flip that dynamic. Our anti-SLAPP services are best in class, and we’ll help you SLAPP back (if you’ll pardon the pun). If you’ve been sued for defamation— or otherwise sued for exercising their First Amendment rights—we can help get frivolous cases tossed, often making sure the other side pays our fees to boot.

The right to vote is, as one court put it, the “fundamental political right, because [it is] preservative of all” other “rights.” Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 370 (1886).

During elections, we have—and will continue to—leapt into action to stop restrictions on that right, ranging from the deliberate slow down of mail voting in the 2020 election, to polling site closures, to attempts to discard ballots mailed before the election due to a post office error in failing to postmark them. If the right to vote is at stake, we will be there. Let us know what is going wrong, and we can help.

The law protects you against discrimination in employment, as well as retaliation for reporting it. If you have faced discrimination or been targeted because you reported it, get in touch. We can help you discuss next steps, whether that is reporting the incident, filing a grievance, negotiating severance, or filing a lawsuit.

New York’s Surrogate’s Court system can be intimidating, and that would be true even if you weren’t (by definition) dealing with it in the wake of a tragedy. Our firm can help navigate that system, set up an estate, and ensure the proper distribution of property following the loss of a loved one.