NSBHF Announces Three Partners and a New Firm Name

National Civil Rights Law Firm Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP Announces Three Partners and a New Firm Name

Leading Civil Rights Trial Attorneys Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann and Emma Freudenberger Join the Marquee of Celebrated Wrongful Convictions Experts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 11, 2023

CONTACT: Emily Whitfield: emily@nsbhf.com

(NEW YORK, NY)  One of the nation’s foremost civil rights firm, which founded — and continues to dominate — the field of civil wrongful conviction litigation, is acknowledging its growth and continuing unparalleled success with the addition of two partners to the firm’s name and the 2021 promotion to partnership of one of the field’s rising stars.  Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, is now Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP. Rising Star Amelia Green, who joined the firm in 2016, is now a partner.

The transition reflects the women’s contributions to the extraordinary success of the boutique trial firm, which from its inception has been the standard-bearer for wrongful conviction trials and settlements around the country. With the addition of Hoffmann and Freudenberger as equity partners, NSBHF is now a predominantly women-owned firm.

According to Nick Brustin, who joined the marquee as an equity partner in 2009, “The firm’s name change publicly acknowledges Anna’s and Emma’s well-earned reputations as two of the top civil rights trial lawyers in the country.” He added: “We’re also thrilled to formally announce the partnership of Amelia Green, who is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding civil rights trial lawyers under 40.” Green was named a partner in 2021.

Since its founding in 2000, the firm has shaped the nation’s law in the field. Their development of now widely acknowledged legal theories in countless civil wrongful conviction lawsuits around the country has led to substantial recoveries for the firm’s wrongful conviction clients and others.  By using civil discovery to gain insight into how wrongful convictions happen, founding partners Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld (together with late partner Johnnie Cochran) established the field. Building on this knowledge, partners Brustin, Hoffmann, Freudenberger and Green, and NSBHF’s roster of extraordinarily credentialed attorneys, have brought in record-setting wins across the country, as well as important policy changes as a result of their work. The firm has won every trial taken to a jury for the last fourteen years.

“I’m proud that our firm not only developed the field of civil wrongful conviction lawsuits but has become the incubator for the next generation of top trial lawyers,” said Scheck, who along with Neufeld remains actively involved in the firm. “NSBHF continues to be at the forefront in this field, including being the first law firm to bring social workers on staff to assist our clients in rebuilding their lives as we seek justice on their behalf.”

NSBHF’s core practice area is federal 1983 wrongful conviction litigation and related state claims. The firm also represents clients who have experienced racial discrimination and serious injury, including sexual assault at the hands of police and corrections officers, unlawful shootings, and wrongful deaths in prisons and jails.  The firm has demonstrated success in dealing with every form of police misconduct in wrongful conviction cases and has won more in total awards from settlements and verdicts from the City of New York in wrongful conviction cases than any other law firm.

Highlights of notable wins and settlements include:

2022 – $12.5 million settlement with Kansas City on behalf of Lamonte McIntyre and his mother Rosie, after he spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit. McIntyre was framed by a detective after his mother rejected the detective’s sexual advances. The detective, Roger Golubski, was indicted later that year on charges of depriving people of their federal rights for raping and attempted kidnapping while working as a police officer.

2019 – An unprecedented $21 million out-of-court settlement with the City of Simi Valley, California on behalf of client Craig Coley, who was wrongly convicted of the brutal 1978 murders of a woman and her 4-year-old son and served 39 years in prison before he was pardoned by California Governor Jerry Brown based on incontrovertible evidence of his innocence.

2018 – $10 million in damages to NSB client Jamal Trulove, who spent six years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder.

2014 – A $43 million+ award against Nassau County for police misconduct that framed two innocent men, John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, who spent nearly 18 years in prison for a rape and murder DNA later proved they did not commit.

(Note: An extended list of wins and settlements is available here.)

The transition announced today marks the third name change for the firm. The firm was officially founded in February 2000. Johnnie Cochran (who died in 2005), Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck were founding partners. In 2009, the firm moved from Cochran Neufeld & Scheck (CNS) to Neufeld Scheck & Brustin (NSB). Hoffmann joined the firm as a junior attorney in 2006 and Freudenberger as a Cochran Fellow in 2008; they became partners in 2013 and equity partners in 2023 with the announcement of Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger (NSBHF).