Civil Rights

Josh has extensive experience in cases of police misconduct, prisoner rights, wrongful convictions, employment discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblower claims. In addition to securing systemic and institutional change through litigation, Josh has won substantial compensation for his clients. Here are some of the notable successes in Josh’s civil rights practice:

  • $9.25 million trial verdict for the estate of Terry Cooper, who was killed by corrections officers at Clinton Correctional Facility. Co-counseled with David B. Rankin. This is the highest known verdict in the Northern District of New York for an in-custody case. The case was settled after trial for $8,900,000, which was also the highest known settlement in the Northern District of New York for an in-custody case (Cooper v. Clancy, No. 19-cv-362 (N.D.N.Y.).

  • Multi-million dollar class action settlement for people “kettled” by the NYPD in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx during the 2020 George Floyd protests (Sierra v. City of New York, 20-cv-10291 (S.D.N.Y.). The settlement ($21,500 per person) remains the highest-known per-person settlement in a mass arrest case in the nation.

  • Secured class certification and secured a permanent injunction against the State of New York for New York State corrections officers who suffered religious discrimination (Sughrim v. State of New York, No. 19-cv-7977 (S.D.N.Y.).

  • $2.55 million settlement for the Estate of Barrington Willams, who died in NYPD custody after emergency first aid was not performed. Co-counseled with Jason Leventhal.

  • $6.9 million settlement for the Estate of Eric Garner, co-counseled with Jonathan C. Moore.

  • $515,000 settlement, after winning an appeal in the Second Circuit, on behalf of a former NYC school principal for a First Amendment retaliation claim.

  • $350,000 settlement for juvenile subject to excessive force in ACS facility.

  • $280,000 settlement for man subject to excessive force by NYPD warrant squad officers and falsely accused of assaulting the officers.

  • Secured temporary restraining order against the enforcement of the NYPD’s “no beard” policy against a Muslim police officer leading to a class action settlement that permanently changed the NYPD’s religious accommodation policy (Syed v. City of New York, No. 16-cv-4789 (S.D.N.Y.).

  • $220,000 settlement, after winning motion to pursue a Monell claim based on NYPD’s lack of training for executing searches of residences, for woman whose house was destroyed during police search.

  • $75,000 settlement for two young men illegally stopped and arrested inside a New York City Housing Authority building.

  • Defeated motion to dismiss class action challenge to NYPD practice of conducting unauthorized automobile checkpoints (McLennon v. City of New York, 171 F. Supp. 3d 69 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

  • Won summary judgment after an evidentiary hearing before Hon. Jack B. Weinstein in a case addressing the right to practice religion without interference (Zhang Jingrong v. Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance, 311 F. Supp. 3d 514 (E.D.N.Y. 2018).