Andrew Wilson has focused on complex commercial and civil rights litigation for more than twenty years. He has tried cases before juries and judges in state, federal, and arbitral matters. He has argued appeals in the Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits and New York’s appellate courts.
His commercial work includes cross-border and domestic matters involving complex commercial litigation, art litigation, partnership and other contract disputes, Lanham Act claims, and commercial class actions. He has represented foreign corporations in domestic contract disputes, in multinational litigation, and as local counsel. Mr. Wilson has extensive experience obtaining evidence for use in foreign litigation under 28 U.S.C. § 1782. For example, in a case of first impression before the Second Circuit, he obtained discovery for use in a Swiss criminal prosecution relating to the Madoff fraud. Mr. Wilson also regularly provides advice to executives in severance and other contract negotiations.
Mr. Wilson’s civil rights practice includes cases relating to racial justice, children’s rights, sexual harassment, religious rights, election law, prisoners’ rights, employment discrimination, and housing rights. These matters have included claims against the Mamaroneck and Pinebush School Districts for racist and Anti-Semitic bullying, reforming the Yonkers and New York City Police departments’ treatment of religious head coverings, confidential matters relating to sexual harassment and discrimination, a $6 million settlement for a man who spent over twenty years in prison for a murder he did not commit, requiring the Cooper Union to pursue a return to free tuition, and reforming the bylaws of a former pro-Nazi residential community on Long Island.
Mr. Wilson has been named a “Super Lawyer” since 2016. He was recognized as a member of the 2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers. He is the current Chair of the Subcommittee on Race/National Origin/Language Discrimination of the American Bar Association. And he is a member of the Legal Network for Gender Equity.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Wilson was an associate at Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP. He has also worked at Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington in Toronto, at the World Health Organization in Geneva, and at Profamilia Legal Services in Bogota. Mr. Wilson clerked for the Honorable Harold A. Ackerman, in the District of New Jersey.
Representative Cases:
- Reform of the New York City and Yonkers Police Department policies to limit the removal of religious head coverings (including hijabs, turbans, and yarmulkes), together with related training. The Yonkers settlement included $175,000 in compensatory damages; the New York damages case is ongoing.
- Dismissal and successful appellate affirmance of commercial class actions on behalf of New York Taxi fleet owners for purported violations of the Taxi and Limousine Commission Rules and related contract claims.
- $4.48 million settlement with expansive policy changes for pervasive anti-Semitism in the Pine Bush School District on behalf of five Jewish children.
- Second Circuit affirmance of a 28 U.S.C. § 1782 subpoena for hedge fund manager in aid of foreign proceedings arising from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.
- Sweeping injunctive settlement in a lawsuit brought by voting rights advocates against a private security contractor, Atlas Aegis, for illegal voter intimidation in Minnesota.
- Summary judgment on behalf of newspaper publisher against purported competitor for claims including civil RICO, the Lanham Act, and the Sherman Act.
- Landmark appeal established a new standard for the valuation of lost photographic images before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Publications:
“Good Stop/Bad Stop (and Frisk),” American Bar Association (April 14, 2014)
“Second Circuit’s Latest Statement on Pattern or Practice,” American Bar Association (June 1, 2013)
“Protecting the Rights of Domestic Violence Victims in the Workplace,” New York Law Journal, August 1, 2006 (with Ilann Margalit Maazel)
- 19 ECBAWM Attorneys Named to 2023 Super Lawyers Lists
- Justice Department Finds that Louisville Police Violated Protesters’ Constitutional Rights
- 17 ECBAWM Attorneys Named to 2022 Super Lawyers Lists
- Mamaroneck Racial Bullying Settlement Requiring Significant Reforms Is Approved
- Nine ECBAWM Partners Named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers” 2022 List
Education
University of Toronto, L.L.B., 2000
Lang Michener Prize in Property Law
Harvard University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1996
Bowdoin Prize for English Composition
Barbara Miller Solomon Prize for Senior Thesis
Admissions
Memberships
