We are excited to share some updates about what our firm has been up to during the last few months.

ECBAWM, S.T.O.P. Reach $17.5M Settlement in NYPD ‘Hijab Removal’ Class Action

On April 5, 2024, plaintiffs moved to approve a $17.5 million settlement in their class action lawsuit against the NYPD for forcing suspects to remove the hijab and other religious attire for mugshots.
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ECBAWM Files Proposed LGBTQ+ Fertility Coverage Settlement

On May 3, 2024, ECBAWM and co-counsel the National Women’s Law Center filed a proposed class action settlement in a case alleging Aetna discriminated against LGBTQ+ policyholders seeking fertility treatment by requiring them to pay more out of pocket and wait longer than heterosexual couples.
“This settlement will deliver real compensation to LGBTQ+ people affected by this policy and ensure a new, fair policy going forward,” said Zoe Salzman, Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.
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ECBAWM Reaches $400,000 Settlement for Federal Lawsuit Brought by Healthcare Worker Assaulted at George Floyd Protest by NYPD Officers, Including Current NYPD Deputy Commissioner

Ernesto Lopez, a respiratory therapist from Washington State who came to New York at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide essential medical care, has settled a civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York and a group of NYPD officers who baselessly arrested and assaulted him at a protest of the police murder of George Floyd in Brooklyn.
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ECBAWM Files Suit on Behalf of the New York City Council Against Mayor Eric Adams for Failing to Implement New Rental Voucher Laws

On February 21, 2024, ECBAWM filed a motion on behalf of the New York City Council to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Legal Aid Society challenging Mayor Eric Adams’s unlawful failure to implement crucial laws expanding access to lifesaving housing assistance.
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Class Action Challenges ACS’s Widespread Use of Coercive Tactics to Conduct Invasive and Unlawful Home Searches

On February 21, 2024, ECBAWM and co-counsel the Family Justice Law Center of the Urban Justice Center, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and the NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic filed a lawsuit challenging the NYC Administration for Children Services’ (ACS) widespread use of highly coercive tactics to enter and search tens of thousands’ of families homes every year in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.
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ECBAWM Partner Jonathan Abady named as one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers by Forbes

ECBAWM is pleased to announce that founding partner Jonathan Abady has been selected by Forbes as one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers. The Forbes Inaugural list highlights “lawyers with stellar track records in their specialties, those who have broken barriers to emerge as leaders in their fields, and attorneys most respected by peers and clients.”

ECBAWM sends letter to U.S. Senate Urging Confirmation of Adeel A. Mangi’s Nomination to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals

On May 17, 2024, ECBAWM joined more than 30 leading law firms in a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging confirmation of Adeel A. Mangi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
A copy of the letter can be found here.

Jessica Clarke, Formerly Of Counsel to ECBAWM, Confirmed as US District Judge for SDNY

Jessica Clarke, formerly of counsel to ECBAWM, has been confirmed as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York. While at ECBAWM, Clarke’s practice focused on affirmative civil rights litigation, including cases involving disability rights and illegal wiretapping, as well as commercial litigation and post-conviction cases.
Judge Clarke is the third ECBAWM alum to join the federal bench, after EDNY Judge Nina R. Morrison and SDNY Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.