The Firm is well known for its appellate advocacy in all areas of law, in state and federal courts of appeals, including several important victories in the U.S. Supreme Court. In the Second Circuit, the Firm has won important appellate victories for our clients in cases involving a wide variety of legal issues, including antitrust, election, First Amendment, police misconduct, and prison conditions.
Representative Cases:
- McNamee v. Clemens – Representing Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens’s former trainer, the Firm successfully obtained a decision from the Fifth Circuit affirming the dismissal of Mr. Clemens’s lawsuit in Texas federal court. The Firm also represented Mr. McNamee during a Congressional hearing on the use of performance enhancing substances and in his suit against Mr. Clemens which is currently pending in federal court in the Eastern District of New York.
- Grace v. Corbis-Sygma – In a case involving the loss of over 40,000 photographic images, the Firm represented a renowned photojournalist in a landmark appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that established a new standard for the valuation of lost images.
- Higazy v. Templeton – 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.
- Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade v. City of New York – 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.
- Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission – 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.
- Silver v. Kuehbeck – 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.
- Swisher v. Johannes – 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.
- Gasperini v. The Center for Humanities – 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.
- Morris v. Board of Estimate – 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.
- Housing Works v. City of New York – 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.
- Pharmaceutical Sales Overtime Litigation – 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.
- Veronica Atkins Marital Trust v. Veronica Atkins Mersentes – 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.
- Shubert v. Obama – 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.
