Nick Brustin / Partner

Nick is one of the leading trial attorneys in the country for high-stakes civil rights cases, including civil wrongful conviction cases. He has obtained several of the largest verdicts and settlements ever awarded in police misconduct cases, as well as substantial injunctive relief in police departments nationwide. Nick has successfully represented clients in the country’s toughest jurisdictions and has strategically navigated difficult facts, witnesses, experts, and law to get record-breaking justice for clients. Nick is a sought-after trial partner for Am Law 100 firms and nonprofit organizations. He formerly served as a Department of Justice Honors Program trial attorney in the civil rights division.

Representative Successes:

• Trulove v. D’Amico: $10 million jury verdict for man who spent 6 years wrongly imprisoned; $13.1 million post-verdict recovery largest ever with the San Francisco Police Department.
• Restivo v. Hessemann: won $36 million jury verdict against Nassau County officer who framed two innocent men for rape and murder; obtained total compensation of over $48.5 million.
• Gates v. District of Columbia: $16.65 million mid-trial settlement for innocent man framed for rape and murder, causing 27.5 years of wrongful incarceration.
• Deskovic v. Putnam County: won $41.65 million jury verdict against New York officer who fabricated confession from innocent teen, causing his 16 years wrongful imprisonment. One of the largest and largest per-year wrongful conviction jury verdicts ever.
• Coley v. Simi Valley: over $25 million in total settlements for California man who spent 38 years wrongly imprisoned for double murder.
• Mann v. Walder: $2,272,274 jury award— including first ever loss-of-life damages award in New Jersey— for family of unarmed Ramapough Lenape Nation man shot and killed by Park Police.
• Wilson v. City of New York: $16.6 million in total settlements for coercing and fabricating confession from innocent New York teen, causing 22 years wrongful incarceration.
• Counts v. City of New York: nearly $14 million in total settlements for New York City man who spent 25 years wrongly imprisoned for rape.
• Bivens v. Forrest County: with co-counsel Lathrop GPM, obtained $20.5 million settlement for families of three Black men wrongly convicted of murder; largest wrongful conviction settlement in Mississippi.