Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP

We are excited to share some updates about what our firm has been up to during the last few months.

The Delaware Court of Chancery denied an attempt by Tiptree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIPT) and Tiptree Marine LLC (collectively, the “Tiptree Defendants”) to dismiss a lawsuit brought by ECBAWM client Osios LLC. This case arose from a business dispute between Stefanos Theodoros Kasselakis—the former Chief Executive Officer of Tiptree Marine, who is now the President of the Syriza-Progressive Alliance, the leading opposition party in Greece—and the Tiptree Defendants. Mr. Kasselakis was the founder of a series of successful maritime businesses embedded within Tiptree and operated as Tiptree subsidiaries under the umbrella of Tiptree Marine. “This is a David and Goliath battle between a young entrepreneur and a NASDAQ-listed company valued at over $600 million. And it is about more than technical language in a contract. Today, the Court prevented a company and its majority member from running roughshod over the rights of its minority member. The facts are on our side. We look forward to pressing these claims in discovery,” said Dan Eisenberg, one of the ECBAWM attorneys representing Osios. https://lnkd.in/enP9tCF5

ECBAWM, on behalf of client, Matthew Raymond, defeated a motion for summary judgment by correction officer defendants who allegedly brutally beat Mr. Raymond while he was incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility.    The Court rejected defendants’ arguments that the plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claims should be dismissed. The Court concluded that a federal jury must resolve Plaintiff’s civil rights claims that he was assaulted by correctional staff employed by the State of New York while he was in restraints in a state prison and suffered severe injuries as a result of the beating. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. https://lnkd.in/eXr-ZyBF

Ernesto Lopez, a respiratory therapist from Washington State who came to New York at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide essential medical care, has settled a civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York and a group of NYPD officers who baselessly arrested and assaulted him at a protest of the police murder of George Floyd in Brooklyn. A big thanks to ECBAWM's Ilann Maazel and Max Selver for leading the charge on this case and obtaining this great result for Mr. Lopez. https://lnkd.in/eVQ6UHwQ

On May 3, 2024, ECBAWM and co-counsel the National Women’s Law Center filed a proposed class action settlement in a case alleging Aetna discriminated against LGBTQ+ policyholders seeking fertility treatment.   The settlement will result in a non-discriminatory fertility coverage policy and a $2 million common fund to compensate class members.   “This settlement will deliver real compensation to LGBTQ+ people affected by this policy and ensure a new, fair policy going forward,” said Zoe Salzman, Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.   “This settlement is a big win for queer families. It means so many of us who hope to become parents or have more children can now begin the journey to do that with the same access to fertility treatment coverage as heterosexual couples,” said Emma Goidel, lead plaintiff on the case. “We hope other insurance companies will follow Aetna’s example and review their policies to make sure everyone has equal access to fertility care.”   Big thanks to ECBAWM attorneys Debbie Greenberger, Eric Abrams, and Zoe A Salzman , ECBAWM paralegal Carlos Martínez-Montes, and attorneys from the National Women's Law Center , for leading the charge on this case.   If you believe you are in the class of individuals covered by this settlement, please visit this page or contact: 1-800-205-6861 https://lnkd.in/esuWx4Qq

On February 21, 2024, ECBAWM and co-counsel the Family Justice Law Center of the Urban Justice Center, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and the NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of nine plaintiffs, challenging the NYC Administration for Children Services’ (ACS) widespread use of highly coercive tactics to enter and search tens of thousands’ of families homes every year in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. ACS conducts invasive home searches during nearly all of the over 50,000 investigations the agency completes each year, affecting over 70,000 caretakers and 90,000 children. ACS caseworkers tell parents they have no choice but to let them in and even threaten to take children away or call the police if parents refuse entry. Once inside, ACS caseworkers routinely read labels in medicine cabinets, open dresser drawers, and even demand to see children’s near naked bodies, without regard to whether these searches have any connection to the reason for the investigation. ACS’s unlawful use of coercive tactics to enter and search families’ homes overwhelming affects Black and Hispanic families, who represent 80% of families investigated by ACS every year. A Black child in New York has a 50% chance of being subjected to an ACS investigation by their 18th birthday. Our clients’ stories show how ACS’s unconstitutional home search practices cause lasting harm. Parents and children alike feel powerless as strangers from ACS with government badges assert total authority over their homes and bodies. This historic lawsuit, which seeks to end this unconstitutional practice as well as monetary damages for the plaintiffs, is being litigated by ECBAWM attorneys Katie Rosenfeld and Max Selver, as well attorneys from the Family Justice Law Center of the Urban Justice Center, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and the NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic.

We are currently hiring new associates to begin as soon as possible and in the fall.

He is a multibillionaire. He founded SlimFast. Now, Daniel Abraham is a defendant in our latest #metoo case. NO ONE, no matter how rich, famous, or powerful, is above the law. https://lnkd.in/eDWUwrPj

ECBAWM Attorneys Named ALM Litigators of the Week for Work on Historic Wrongful Conviction Suit George Bell spent 24 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Now, New York City has agreed to pay him $17.5 Million, the largest the city has ever paid to settle a wrongful conviction suit. The historic settlement comes after Mr. Bell reached a $4.4 million settlement of his suit against the State of New York pursuant to the Court of Claims Act. ECBAWM partner Richard Emery noted that this landmark result “recognizes the horrible suffering that a young, innocent man went through facing the death penalty for three years and life without parole for 21 more.” Mr. Bell was represented by ECBAWM attorneys Richard Emery, Earl Ward, Debbie Greenberger, David Berman, and Nick Bourland, along with Scott Stevenson. https://lnkd.in/ebFk6_Ek

In a November 8, 2023 decision, United States District Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York rejected a motion for summary judgment filed by NYPD Officers Jillian Suarez and Bryan Rozanski, who sought to avoid a federal civil rights trial stemming from their shooting of ECBAWM client Peyman Bahadoran. In June 2020, Officers Suarez and Rozanski shot Mr. Bahadoran in the back and arm while he was in front of a Manhattan deli, permanently paralyzing him. Mr. Bahadoran was unarmed and experiencing a mental health emergency at the time. Citing the evidence gathered during discovery, including security camera footage, police bodycam recordings, and police officers’ own testimony, the Court concluded that Mr. Bahadoran’s case must continue to a trial, where a jury will determine whether Officers Suarez and Rozanski acted unreasonably and used excessive force when they shot Mr. Bahadoran. ECBAWM attorney Nick Bourland said: “Mr. Bahadoran was experiencing a mental health crisis and needed help. Instead, Defendants shot, paralyzed, and nearly killed Mr. Bahadoran, changing the course of his life in the blink of an eye. The Court’s recent ruling guarantees that Mr. Bahadoran will be able to present this tragic case to a jury and hold these officers responsible for their actions.” Mr. Bahadoran is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Jonathan Abady, Earl Ward, and Nick Bourland.