Notable Successes

Desmarais LLP Secures Pro Bono Settlement in Civil Rights Case

Desmarais LLP earned a favorable settlement for a pro bono client whose constitutional rights were violated during his time in the federal prison system.
 
The pro bono client originally filed the Section 1983 civil rights case in 2019 against officers at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who had physically and sexually assaulted him during his incarceration. Desmarais LLP took over the case in November 2022 as a trial was approaching, but the firm’s team needed to move quickly because witness depositions had not yet been taken. As a result, all associates on the Desmarais LLP team took depositions and participated in multiple pre-trial conferences to argue evidentiary issues before Judge Philip Halpern in the Southern District of New York.  Through those efforts, the team secured a settlement-in-principle for the client on June 28, 2023, less than two weeks before trial. The team subsequently negotiated the drafting of the settlement agreement and achieved final resolution of the matter on August 3, 2023.
 
The Desmarais LLP team representing the pro bono client included Tamir Packin, Eli Balsam, Gillian Moore, Lee Matalon, Raymond Habbaz, Ryan Thorne, William Vieth, Annabel Haddock, and Jamell Watson.