Our Litigation Practice

Cases handled by our firm "made the rules" in key areas of employment and public-interest law. A case handled by our firm resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision liberalizing the rule for plaintiffs to recover punitive damages in civil rights cases. Kolstad v. American Dental Association, 527 U.S. 526 (1999)(plaintiff is eligible to recover punitive damages under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if employer knowingly acts in violation of federal law even when employer's objective conduct is not "egregious" or "outrageous"). The firm was a leader in developing standards for setting attorneys fees in civil rights and other statutory fee litigation. Save Our Cumberland Mountains v. Hodel, 857 F.2d 1516 (D.C. Cir. 1988) ("SOCM") (established that fees are to be awarded to public-interest attorneys at "market rates", thereby encouraging legal representation for victims of discrimination who would otherwise be unable to afford counsel).

Our cases typically involved extensive discovery, depositions, motions practice, and the development of complex fact and expert evidence. We are proud of the strength of our skills in these areas. We won praise by other attorneys and judges as well as by clients for the high quality of our written submissions and for the aggressiveness, effectiveness and efficiency of our trial preparation.

We were active in public-interest work particularly in the areas of fair employment and housing. We handled numerous cases in cooperation with civil rights groups including the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Washington Metropolitan Fair Housing Council.