NSB in the News

A federal jury has awarded Jeffrey Deskovic, who spent 16-and-a-half years wrongfully imprisoned for the rape and murder of a high school classmate before DNA testing proved him innocent, $40 million plus $1.65 million in stipulated lost wages for a total of $41,650,000—the largest wrongful conviction jury verdict in U.S. history.  The jury found former…

The New York SuperLawyers Magazine has named Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, and Nick Brustin 2014 “SuperLawyers,” and has named Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann and Emma Freudenberger “Rising Stars” in the field of civil rights.

The National Law Journal has selected Neufeld Scheck & Brustin to its inaugural list of the nation’s top 50 trial firms, recognizing the firm’s recent record in complex, high-stakes plaintiff’s cases. Read more here.

The Illinois State Police have agreed to pay $40 million to five men who were wrongfully convicted of rape and murder as teenagers and served a combined 80 years in prison before DNA testing proved their innocence.  The lawsuits alleged that police had coerced false confessions from three of the five plaintiffs, which led to…

Monroe County and the City of Rochester have agreed to pay NSB Client Frank Sterling $8.625 to settle his constitutional claims against the officers involved in Mr. Sterling’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment. The real perpetrator has since confessed and pleaded guilty to the murder for which Mr. Sterling was imprisoned. Click here to read article.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled today that Byron Halsey’s wrongful conviction case must proceed to trial, recognizing for the first time in that Circuit that fabrication of evidence by a police officer violates the Due Process Clause and is actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. With this decision, the…

A federal jury has returned a $36 million verdict for John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, who spent eighteen years in prison for a 1984 rape and murder before DNA testing proved their innocence. The jury concluded that Nassau County Detective Joseph Volpe, now deceased, had planted hairs and hid evidence suggesting Mr. Restivo’s and Mr….

The State of New York has agreed to pay $3.375 million to settle Mr. Tankleff’s claim under section 8-b of New York’s Court of Claims Act, which provides a remedy for people wrongfully convicted of crimes. Mr. Tankleff also has a federal civil rights lawsuit pending against Suffolk County and former Suffolk County Detective K….

The Trial Lawyer, the magazine of The National Trial Lawyers, has named Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck two of America’s 100 most influential trial lawyers. NSB congratulates Peter and Barry on this honor.

October Term 2014 will see two NSB alums working at the United States Supreme Court. Current NSB Cochran Fellow Aaron Scherzer will clerk for Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Former Summer Associate Joshua Matz will clerk for Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. NSB congratulates both Aaron and Joshua on this honor.

The New York Super Lawyers Magazine has named Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, and Nick Brustin “Super Lawyers,” and Emma Freudenberger a “Rising Star,” in the area of Civil Rights and First Amendment Law.

The firm congratulates founding partners Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck on their receipt of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Double Helix Medal. Past Recipients of the Medal—awarded annually for significant contributions to human health and biomedical research—include Muhammed Ali, Michael J. Fox, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Evelyn Lauder, and John Nash.

The state of North Carolina has agreed to pay $7.85 million to settle the state lawsuit filed by NSB client Floyd Brown.  Mr. Brown, a man with serious mental disabilities, was locked up for 14 years in a psychiatric hospital based on a false confession fabricated by a State Bureau of Investigation agent. Click here…

Neufeld Scheck & Brustin has been ranked nationally for civil rights litigation in the second annual edition of Benchmark Plaintiff.  The firm was also recommended for litigation in New York.  Benchmark Plaintiff has also recognized NSB partners Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck and Nick Brustin as “litigation stars.” Benchmark’s rankings are based on interviews in which legal professionals, in-house…

On July 18, 2013, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice announced they are conducting an unprecedented review of old criminal cases, including as many as 27 death penalty convictions, to determine whether FBI forensic experts used inaccurate or exaggerated testimony to link defendants to crimes.  The review was prompted by the exoneration of…

Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, is pleased to announce that the Honorable Nancy Gertner (Ret.) has become affiliated with the firm. One of the country’s most respected voices on civil rights, civil liberties, employment, criminal justice and procedural issues, Judge Gertner served on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1994-2011, and is…

The National Law Journal has named Barry Scheck one of the hundred most influential lawyers in America.  The list of “100 lawyers who shape the legal world through their work in the courtroom, at the negotiating table, in the classroom or in government” was selected by NLJ’s editors in an effort to identify “members of law’s…

Man served 16 years until DNA exonerated him in the death of a classmate when he was a teen. Click here to view the article.

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights attorneys and the co-founders of the Innocence Project, have received the New York State Bar Association’s Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor. Click here to view the article.

A Kentucky man who spent about nine years in prison before being cleared in a deadly shooting and robbery will get $8.5 million in a settlement from the city of Louisville. Click here to view the article.

Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck have been awarded the National Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Trial Lawyers Summit. Congratulations to both of them.

A jury on Wednesday awarded $150,000 in punitive damages to the family of a Ramapough Indian who was fatally shot by a state park ranger five years ago in Mahwah. With a 7-0 vote, the panel found that former Park Police Officer Chad Walder’s actions were “malicious or wanton” when he drew his gun and…

See the video of Seemona Sumasar with Nick Brustin appearing on the Today Show here. Read more about Seemona Sumasar’s case: A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns Dan Bilefsky, New York Times, July 25, 2011 Soon after Seemona Sumasar started dating Jerry Ramrattan, she had an inkling that something might be wrong. He…

Fernanda Santos, “$6.5 Million Settlement in Wrongful Conviction,” New York Times, April 13, 2011 Jeffrey Deskovic spent half of his life in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit, but it was only this week, four and a half years after his release, that he received some measure of justice: a $6.5 million…

Gary Craig, “Douglas Warney’s bid for restitution is restored,” Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, March 31, 2011. Rochester police likely coerced a false confession from Douglas Warney, a city man who spent more than nine years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, New York’s highest court ruled today. The New York Court of Appeals ruled…

NSB partner Nick Brustin has been selected as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School for the 2011-12 academic year. The Wasserstein Committee selected Mr. Brustin for his outstanding public service accomplishments and ongoing work at the firm.

Rocco LaDuca, Utica Observer-Dispatch, Jan. 7, 2011 Not much has changed yet for Steven Barnes after recently receiving a check for $3.5 million from the state as payback for all those years he was wrongfully blamed for killing 16-year-old Kimberly Simon in 1985. The humble Marcy man still goes to work everyday helping youths through Oneida…

Alfonso A. Castillo, Newsday, November 8, 2010 Nassau County Monday unveiled the team tasked with reviewing the case of Jesse Friedman, the convicted child molester who has maintained his innocence since shortly after pleading guilty 22 years ago. And among those on the list is one well-known advocate for the wrongly accused. Barry Scheck, founder of…