Washington, D.C. · Est. 2009
Justice.
Civil Rights Litigation
Co-Counsel · Impact Cases · §1983
Press Record
The verdicts that moved the needle.
The coverage that followed.
Recognized By
WaPo · Reuters · NYT · Bloomberg
Jury Awards $14.2M in Excessive Force Case
Landmark Ruling Expands Qualified Immunity Challenge
Federal Court Finds Systemic Pattern in Police Chokeholds
$6.8M Settlement Reached in Housing Discrimination Suit
Appeals Court Revives First Amendment Retaliation Claims
City of Baltimore Forced to Overhaul Use-of-Force Policies
Civil Rights Attorneys Secure Consent Decree Against Metro PD
Court Orders Body Camera Footage Release in Misconduct Case
Valentina Calderon
Senior Partner
When Marcus Harrington was beaten unconscious during a traffic stop, the department claimed the body camera malfunctioned. Calderon obtained seventeen months of maintenance records showing the department had never serviced a single camera on that unit. She took the case to a Philadelphia federal jury in eleven days.
"The camera did not malfunction. The policy did. And that distinction is the difference between a $200 settlement and a $14.2 million verdict."
— Closing argument, E.D. Pa., October 2024
$14.2M
Verdict
11 Days
Duration
Policy Liability
Precedent
Precedent Set
Established municipal liability for systemic camera maintenance failures under Monell.
Emeka Okafor
Partner
Forty-three families in Southeast D.C. received eviction notices within six weeks of a rezoning application. Okafor cross-referenced application timestamps, lease termination dates, and demographic data to demonstrate a coordinated displacement pattern. The discovery deposition of Meridian's property director lasted four hours and produced the document that ended the case.
"You sent the eviction notices before you filed the rezoning application. That sequence is not coincidence. That sequence is a policy."
— Deposition of R. Whitmore, Meridian Properties, March 2025
$6.8M
Settlement
43
Families
Decree
Consent
Precedent Set
Consent decree requires Meridian to provide 18-month right-of-return to displaced tenants.
Partnership
Complex civil rights cases require counsel who have been there. We have.
Layla Ibrahim
Partner
A Cook County corrections officer filed a grievance about inmate medical neglect. Within thirty days he was reassigned, stripped of overtime, and subjected to three disciplinary investigations — all initiated after the grievance date. Ibrahim filed in the Northern District of Illinois and moved for summary judgment. The county settled before the hearing.
"Every investigation you opened against my client was filed after he spoke. The First Amendment does not have a thirty-day grace period."
— Summary judgment oral argument, N.D. Ill., September 2023
$2.1M
Settlement
Full Rank
Reinstate
Reformed
Policy
Precedent Set
County required to implement independent review process for post-grievance disciplinary actions.
Daniel Nakamura
Senior Associate
Three prior federal courts had dismissed similar claims against the Memphis PD on qualified immunity grounds. Nakamura distinguished each precedent by isolating a 2019 internal training memo that explicitly described the prohibited conduct as permissible. The Sixth Circuit reversed the dismissal, creating the most significant qualified immunity limitation in the circuit in eight years.
"Qualified immunity shields officers who did not know the law. It does not shield a department that taught the violation as procedure."
— Sixth Circuit oral argument, February 2025
6th Cir.
Circuit
Dismissal
Reversed
8-Year High
Impact
Precedent Set
Whitfield v. Memphis, 6th Cir. 2025 — departments cannot claim qualified immunity when internal training documents authorize the conduct at issue.
Case Results
Outcomes that speak
before the brief does.
Since 2009. Federal courts in twelve circuits. Cases other firms declined to take.
$0M+
Total Recovered
Verdicts & Settlements
0
Federal Verdicts
District & Circuit Courts
0
Consent Decrees
Municipal Reform Orders
0
Published Opinions
Circuit-Level Precedents
Selected Verdicts & Settlements
Practice Areas
Narrow focus.
Maximum exposure for the other side.
Police Misconduct
Excessive Force · Wrongful Arrest · Unlawful Search
Section 1983 claims against officers and municipalities where policy, custom, or deliberate indifference caused constitutional injury. We pursue Monell liability when individual officer immunity shields the institution.
Key Victory
Harrington v. Philadelphia — $14.2M, policy liability established
Housing Discrimination
Displacement · Redlining · Disparate Impact
Fair Housing Act litigation against developers, municipalities, and housing authorities. We use data-driven discovery to convert statistical patterns into cognizable legal claims and consent decrees that mandate structural reform.
Key Victory
Tenant Coalition v. Meridian — $6.8M + right-of-return consent decree
First Amendment Retaliation
Public Employee Speech · Protest Rights · Press Access
Constitutional challenges where government actors punish protected speech, association, or petition. We represent whistleblowers, journalists, and protest organizers whose exercise of First Amendment rights triggered official retaliation.
Key Victory
Reyes v. Cook County — $2.1M + independent disciplinary review
Qualified Immunity Challenges
Municipal Liability · Pattern & Practice · Systemic Reform
Strategic litigation targeting the qualified immunity doctrine where internal training materials, department policies, or established circuit precedent clearly prohibit the conduct at issue. We build records designed for appellate reversal.
Key Victory
Whitfield v. Memphis — 6th Circuit reversal, 8-year precedent shift
Co-Counsel Intake
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who has been in this courtroom.
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Download our case results — 47 verdicts,
organized by practice area.