Our Work

ECBAWM obtained a preliminary injunction against the City of New York on behalf of the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, halting the redevelopment of a formerly industrial area in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  The Coalition alleged that the City’s redevelopment plans were racially discriminatory and would have perpetuated segregation in the neighborhood. Ultimately, the City agreed to select new developers to build permanently affordable rental housing  on several lots in the area and to pay a total of $2.4 million for fair housing services in the neighborhood and $1.3 million in attorneys’ fees.

ECBAWM represented the Fair Housing Justice Center in a lawsuit alleging that the predominantly white Town of Eastchester, New York gave a preference to Town residents for its Section 8 voucher program and for affordable housing built for seniors under its zoning code.  After ECBAWM attorneys uncovered that white Town residents waited only 6 months to one year for a voucher while Black and Latino non-residents waited approximately 10 years, the Town closed its voucher program and transferred participants to the New York State voucher program which agreed to order the waiting list by date of application.  The town also agreed to amend its zoning code to remove residency preferences from the Town’s affordable senior housing zoning program, to pay $635,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees, and not to use residency preferences in any Town housing programs for 30 years.

ECBAWM negotiated a $2,450,000 settlement for the National Fair Housing Alliance and several of its member organizations to resolve housing discrimination claims against Facebook, Inc. regarding its advertising platform. The agreement set a new benchmark for assuring that targeted advertisements for housing and credit comply with civil rights laws and allowing postings to be accessible to all Facebook users regardless of the advertiser’s intended audience.

The Firm represented a gay man who was subjected to vicious verbal and written harassment from his building superintendent while he lived in a Bronx apartment building.  ECBAWM attorneys initially obtained a preliminary injunction to stop the harassment and then represented our client at a jury trial resulting in a favorable decision ordering the landlord to pay damage and attorney’s fees.

ECBAWM obtained an apartment and damages for a formerly homeless disabled man who was rejected by multiple landlords and realty firms because he had a housing subsidy.  In addition, ECBAWM, negotiated agreements with each of the defendant realty firms that included adopting anti-discrimination policies, providing fair housing training to their agents and paying $550,000 in damages and fees to the Fair Housing Justice Center.

ECBAWM obtained a $500,000 settlement on behalf of the Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC) in a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by two predominantly white Bronx Cooperatives and a real estate broker regarding requirements that prospective buyers, know and obtain references from at least two current residents.  The cooperatives agreed to eliminate their policies and the broker who met with FHJC testers agreed to give up her real estate license permanently as part of the settlement.

The Firm represented a Long Island non-profit organization alleging a landlord with five suburban apartment complexes charged additional fees to disabled renters with service animals, only offered rent discounts to applicants without service animals, and did not inform prospective disabled renters about all available apartments for rent. ECBAWM settled the case for reimbursement of overpaid pet fees and rent to disabled tenants with service animals, fair housing training, and new reasonable accommodation request policies along with monetary damages and fees.

The Firm has secured extra time on tests like the New York bar exam and other educational accommodations for students with learning disabilities.

ECBAWM represents a man living with HIV who was unlawfully discriminated against by a cosmetic surgeon who refused to perform surgery on the basis of his HIV status. The United States Department of Justice has also brought suit against the doctor for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Firm successfully represented a Long Island non-profit organization alleging that prospective disabled tenants were quoted higher rents and were told apartments were not available and that fees would be charged for service dogs, and that the building refused to modify rental policies to accommodate renters’ disabilities.

The Firm represents three families in a lawsuit against the State of New York alleging severe and pervasive abuse of disabled residents in a State group home, which staff members refer to as the “Bronx Zoo.”

ECBAWM secured $2.25 million for the family of a severely disabled man who was abused by staff members at a New York State-run facility for the disabled.

ECBAWM currently represents a disabled man who was denied the opportunity to live in a Westchester County cooperative building with a policy prohibiting apartment purchases by supplemental needs trusts, which are primarily used by disabled persons.

After New York State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and his wife Ellen discovered that staff at a group home were abusing their disabled son Ricky, they turned to ECBAWM, who secured a $120,000 settlement from the facility.

The Firm successfully represented a class of disabled preschool children in a case that resulted in the elimination of a lengthy waiting list for services required by the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

ECBAWM resolved a case against five retirement communities alleging disability discrimination, including, among other things, refusing to rent to applicants using wheelchairs and, at one site, requiring current residents who use wheelchairs to use a segregated dining room. The settlement included $297,500 and extensive policy changes.

The Firm obtained a preliminary injunction that stopped a New York landlord from refusing to renew leases with a non-profit organization that provides housing and supportive services to several developmentally disabled men in two of the landlord’s rent stabilized Manhattan apartments.

ECBAWM, along with the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project, represents a mentally disabled man who was severely beaten by Rikers Island guards in 2014. Mr. Guadalupe was beaten while he was in handcuffs.

New York State Pays ECBAWM Client Anthony Broadwater $5.5 Million

ECBAWM Client David Bryant Awarded $11 Million for Wrongful Conviction

New York State Pays ECBAWM Client Kareem Bellamy $8 Million

Together with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and Voter Action, the Firm obtained a landmark injunction on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election requiring Pennsylvania to make emergency paper ballots available when half or more of a precinct’s voting machines fail.

The Firm represented New York Senator Malcolm A. Smith in a case challenging Senator Pedro Espada Jr.’s claimed election to the position of Temporary President of the Senate.

The Firm represents the New York State Conservative Party in a case challenging how New York counts so-called “double votes,” which occur when a person votes for a candidate on more than one party line. State law presently requires that double votes be counted only for the major party (almost invariably the Republicans or the Democrats) and not for the minor party.

Together with the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center, the Firm successfully represented a coalition of alternative political parties challenging New Jersey’s discriminatory campaign finance scheme, which subjected alternative parties to more stringent contribution and expenditure limits than the Democrats or Republicans.

The Firm represented a coalition of voters challenging the 2002 reapportionment of New York State Senate districts, alleging that the redistricting plan violated the “one person, one vote” requirement of the Constitution, as well as the Voting Rights Act.

The Firm mounted a challenge to unlawfully altered absentee ballots in Florida during the 2000 Presidential election recount.

Together with the Brennan Center, the Firm represented insurgent Republican presidential candidates Steve Forbes and John McCain in successful challenges to New York’s ballot access requirements.

Sandler/Cutbill – Represented two women who were sexually abused by their high school teachers in a Long Island public school, in federal lawsuits brought under the Child Victims Act (CVA)

Represented a woman who was sexually harassed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo while she was employed by New York state.

The Firm represents a child who was abused by staff while in foster care in a lawsuit against Child & Family Services in Buffalo, New York. The abuse took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he was only eight to ten years old; the case was brought under the Child Victims Act (CVA).

Represented Nikki Columbus, who sued MoMA PS1 in the New York City Human Rights Commission for revoking her job offer after learning she had just had a baby. The parties reached an agreement requiring PS1 to pay Ms. Columbus a financial award and to update its written policies to protect women and caregivers.

Representing family of child sexually abused at school by other students in case against the child’s private school.

Represented incarcerated woman in claim against United States of America arising from sexual assault by BOP correctional staff.

The Firm won a jury trial for a gay man who was subjected to vicious verbal and written harassment while he lived in a Bronx apartment building in an action against the landlord alleging violations of State and City laws prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Litigated a sexual harassment lawsuit in the New York City Commission on Human Rights to bypass an arbitration clause. The case alleged that the plaintiff was “subjected to an astounding barrage of groping and sexually explicit and derogatory comments, texts, emails, and signs by her boss.” The case was covered by Law.com and the New York Post.

The Firm successfully represented one of several former tenants in a case brought by the New York State Attorney General’s office against a Manhattan landlord alleging that he sexually harassed female tenants.

Along with co-counsel, the Firm represented a transgender woman who was sexually assaulted by two different employees of the New York City Department of Corrections and/or the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation on two different occasions, as corroborated by forensic evidence, despite credible complaints she and others had previously made. The case ultimately settled for $750,000.

Successfully litigated an action in federal court on behalf of a woman who suffered a sexual assault at her office, by her supervisor, and was then retaliated against when she reported it.

Negotiated a confidential settlement on behalf of three women who were sexually harassed and/or assaulted for years by other employees.

Successfully represented a woman who was raped by a co-worker and then fired when she reported it.

Successfully represented a female tenant against a Brooklyn landlord who sexually assaulted/harassed her in her home.

Negotiated a confidential settlement on behalf of a woman sexually harassed and then assaulted by her boss.

The Firm represents the mother of Jeffrey Deskovic, who was wrongfully convicted of murder when he was a teenager and spent 16 years in prison, in a case alleging that the Peekskill Police Department and Westchester County Medical Examiner engaged in misconduct that deprived her of her constitutional right to familial association.

Together with Williams & Connolly and Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin, the Firm represents one of the Duke lacrosse players who was falsely accused of rape by former District Attorney Michael Nifong.

The Firm recently obtained a jury verdict on behalf of a man who was beaten with a flashlight by two uniformed NYPD officers, despite the fact that there were no eye-witnesses and the officers denied that the incident occurred.

The Firm successfully represented an Egyptian engineering student who was arrested for alleged involvement in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in a claim against the FBI for coercing a false confession.

Along with Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree and Robert Johnson, ECBAWM represents Brandon Cox, a student who was shot by the police while in a car with his friend, DJ Henry Jr., a Pace University student who was killed in the police shooting.

The Firm successfully settled this wrongful death case with the City for $1.1 million and then secured a jury verdict against the police officer. In doing so, the Firm won a landmark legal victory, obtaining “loss of life” damages for the first time in a civil rights case.

The Firm won a $3 million jury verdict in this false arrest and excessive force case (which was later reduced by the trial court).

The Firm won summary judgment on the first-ever damages claim in the United States for violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations for a foreign citizen’s wrongful detention and assault by the police.

Together with The Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project and Sullivan and Cromwell, the Firm successfully litigated a class action against the New York City Department of Corrections on behalf of inmates housed at Rikers Island. The case alleged a widespread pattern and practice of excessive force against inmates, as well as inadequate training, investigation, and discipline of officers. The City settled by agreeing to a slate of systematic reform

The Firm, along with The Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project, obtained a settlement of $5,750,000 on behalf of the family of Bradley Ballard, the largest ever entered into by New York City for a death in custody.  Mr. Ballard was a seriously mentally ill and diabetic man who died in 2013 due to the abuse and cruelty of Department of Correction staff and the medical providers on Rikers Island.  He was illegally shut in his cell and left to decompensate without water or medication for his schizophrenia and diabetes for seven days until his death on September 11, 2013.

The Firm brought a case on behalf of three plaintiffs exposing the extraordinary practice by the New York City Department of Corrections’ employees of staging and betting on illegal fights between inmates. Our three clients were severely assaulted by corrections staff when they refused to participate in this staged “arena fighting.” After the commencement of discovery, the City entered settlement negotiations and the case was resolved on highly favorable terms for the plaint

The Firm and Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project successfully litigated an excessive force lawsuit against the City of New York after multiple officers beat a man so badly that they broke his rib, which eventually pierced his spleen and led to massive internal bleeding. The assault and resulting injuries were life-threatening. Mr. Cruz, who was only 20 years old at the time, was forced to undergo emergency surgery to remove his spleen.

Together with The Legal Aid Society, the Firm represented a man brutally assaulted on two occasions by New York City Department of Corrections’ guards, resulting in an orbital fracture, sprained wrist, and numerous cuts and bruises. The case ultimately settled for $350,000.

The Firm represents the family of Patrick Miller, a mentally ill man who died in 2007 in the custody of the New York City Department of Correction, after being severely beaten in a jail hospital for mentally ill individuals.

Along with co-counsel, the Firm represented a transgender woman who was sexually assaulted by two different employees of the New York City Department of Corrections and/or the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation on two different occasions, as corroborated by forensic evidence, despite credible complaints she and others had previously made. The case ultimately settled for $750,000.

The Firm represented a class of 62,000 arrestees challenging the constitutionality of pre-arraignment strip-searches, and secured a $50 million settlement.

Filed a charge with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a woman who was fired from her job at a national retail establishment after she told them she was pregnant.

Successfully mediated a resolution of an action on behalf of three employees who endured years of sexual harassment at a high-end restaurant.

Negotiated a confidential settlement on behalf of a woman whose employer terminated her after she requested a reasonable accommodation because she was a victim of domestic violence.

Negotiated a confidential settlement for an executive at a financial firm who was terminated due to his age.

The Firm represented an Egyptian student who was falsely accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks in an historic case that further defined the scope of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in bail proceedings.

The Firm successfully represented an association of taxicab owners who challenged the City’s requirement that they purchase hybrid vehicles. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the City’s rules were preempted by federal environmental protection standards.

The Firm successfully represented an association of taxicab owners challenging a Taxi & Limousine Commission rule that prohibited the owners from collecting sales tax in addition to the standard lease cap. The Court of Appeals for the State of New York held that the Commission’s rules were arbitrary and capricious.

The Firm successfully obtained and defended on appeal a complete dismissal of all claims brought by renowned journalist Carl Bernstein in a meritless tort-suit.

The Firm represented a Connecticut-based manufacturing company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in a Fifth Amendment Taking Clause challenge to a federal assessment scheme.

The Firm represented the plaintiff in a matter involving claims for lost property that raised fundamental constitutional questions concerning the right to a jury trial. The case was heard twice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and once in the U.S. Supreme Court before reaching a final resolution in our client’s favor. It is now taught in law schools and featured in textbooks across the country.

Prior to founding the firm, Richard Emery successfully argued a landmark case in which the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously invalidated the New York City Board of Estimate on “one person, one vote” grounds, radically altering the balance of power in New York City government.

The Firm represented Housing Works, a non-profit housing organization serving people with AIDS, in a case that successfully challenged the City’s termination of Housing Works’s funding in retaliation for the organization’s criticism of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the grant of a preliminary injunction, securing the recovery of over $3 million in funding. The Firm ultimately obtained a historic $4.8 million settlement on behalf of Housing Works.

Together with several other firms, the Firm represents thousands of pharmaceutical sales representatives in class actions against several major pharmaceutical companies for failing to pay overtime. The Firm recently won one of these cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The Firm obtained a $9 million judgment on behalf of a trust created by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, creator of the Atkins Diet, against his widow.

The Firm represents four individuals and a putative class of individuals who claim their communications were illegally intercepted by the federal government. A unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court, holding that the statutory and constitutional claims may proceed.

The Firm obtained a $7.5 million settlement from the State of New Jersey on behalf of three foster children who were starved and otherwise abused by their foster parents for a period of years

The Firm successfully represented a class of disabled preschool children in a case that resulted in the elimination of a lengthy waiting list for services required by the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

The Firm represented a 16-year-old girl who had been subjected by school officials to an unlawful strip search while she was handcuffed in a school bathroom. The firm secured a settlement of $245,000 – one of the largest in New York City for a single strip search.

The Firm represented the estate of Kim Barry, a NYU Law graduate killed in a tragic car accident.

Together with Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin, the Firm represents the estate of Emil Mann, a member of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation who was shot to death by an officer of the New Jersey Park Police.

The Firm represented 32 family members of passengers on Pan Am Flight 103, which was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1989, in an action against Libya under federal anti-terrorism and state tort law.

The Firm obtained a $7.2 million settlement on behalf of the family and estate of Jodie Lane, who was electrocuted by an improperly maintained metal plate while walking her dogs.

The Firm represented the family of a man who died while incarcerated on Rikers Island due to untreated alcohol withdrawal. The case ultimately settled for $2 million.

The Firm successfully settled this wrongful death case with the City for $1.1 million, and then secured a jury verdict against the police officer. In doing so, the Firm won a landmark legal victory, obtaining “loss of life” damages for the first time in a civil rights case in the Second Circuit.

On behalf of hundreds of former medical residents who trained in The New York and Presbyterian Hospital’s Weill Cornell Campus Residency Program between January 1, 1995 and June 30, 2001, ECBAWM reached a settlement of $6.632 million.

Together with the Legal Aid Society, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel obtained a $540,000 settlement for a class of painters who were misclassified as independent contracts and denied overtime pay.

Together with the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project and MFY Legal Services, Inc., the Firm obtained a $60 million cash settlement and extensive injunctive relief including forgiving over $1 billion in debt on behalf of New Yorkers who alleged fraudulent debt collection practices (approval pending).

Together with the Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project and Sullivan and Cromwell, the Firm successfully litigated a class action against the New York City Department of Corrections on behalf of inmates housed at Rikers Island. The case alleged a widespread pattern and practice of excessive force against inmates, as well as inadequate training, investigation, and discipline of officers. The City settled by agreeing to a host of critical reforms.

The Firm serves as counsel to a putative class of tens of millions of Americans subjected to illegal surveillance by the federal government.

Together with The Bronx Defenders, the Firm serves as class counsel on behalf of more than 20,000 New Yorkers in an action against the City of New York and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly seeking damages and injunctive relief for the City’s persistent practice of enforcing a number of void “loitering” laws deemed unconstitutional by courts more than two decades ago. In April 2010, the Firm was successful in obtaining a finding of contempt against the City of New York based on the district court’s conclusions that the NYPD had enforced the void loitering laws against thousands of New Yorkers – many of them poor, homeless or otherwise disenfranchised – in direct violation of multiple court orders to cease such enforcement.

The Firm represents a class of cleaning workers who allege that they spent months working at ground zero in the wake of the September 11 attacks without receiving proper overtime compensation.

Together with several other firms, the Firm represents thousands of pharmaceutical sales representatives in class actions against several major pharmaceutical companies for failing to pay overtime. The Firm recently won one of these cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The Firm represents a putative class of hundreds of tenants in apartments owned by London Terrace Gardens that were unlawfully deregulated despite receipt of tax benefits that precluded deregulation.

The Firm represented a class of 62,000 arrestees challenging the constitutionality of pre-arraignment strip-searches, securing a $50 million settlement.

The Firm joined as co-counsel in one of the largest and most important antitrust litigations in U.S. history. Plaintiffs consisted of over 5 million U.S. merchants who alleged tying and monopolization claims against Visa and MasterCard. The Firm was retained to prepare the case for trial, playing the role of defense counsel in a one-week mock trial conducted before 40 “jurors” and assisting in witness preparation and jury selection for trial. The case settled on the eve of trial for $3 billion – the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.

The Firm successfully represented a class of disabled preschool children in a case that resulted in the elimination of a lengthy waiting list for services required by the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

The Firm brought a putative federal class action filed on behalf of renters who alleged that real estate agents were steering them away from apartments in Brooklyn because they had children.