2023 NEWS ARCHIVE
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OCtober 4, 2023
Shanies Law achieves record-setting settlement for New Jersey wrongful conviction
Shanies Law achieved a settlement of just under one million dollars per year in a wrongful conviction case from Union County, New Jersey. It is the highest annual settlement value in New Jersey history and among the highest of all time nationwide. Emmanuel Mervilus spent more than three years imprisoned after a Union County police detective falsely accused him of failing a polygraph examination. Contrary to the detective’s claim, the examination results backed up Mr. Mervilus’s claim of innocence. After years of litigation, including a successful appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit—a landmark victory the New Jersey Law Journal described as “exceptional and uncommon”—Mr. Mervilus accepted a settlement of $3.2 million to resolve the case.
AUGUST 23, 2023
Shanies Law’s Pro Bono Work in louisiana makes headlines
Two pro bono matters the Shanies Law Office is currently litigating in Louisiana have recently received significant press coverage.
The firm is co-counsel in a federal class action lawsuit in Louisiana seeking to stop the State of Louisiana from sending juveniles to its dangerous and ill-conceived youth detention facility in the former death row of Angola State Prison. The federal court is currently holding hearings on a motion for a preliminary injunction. Legions of advocates and civil rights organizations have joined the call for “No Kids In Angola.” The litigation team includes, in addition to Shanies Law, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Loyola University Law School, the Fair Fight Initiative, and civil rights litigators David Utter and Chris Murell.
The firm also represents Sullivan Walter, an innocent man who served more than 35 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Walter was only 17 years old when he was charged and wrongfully convicted for a sexual assault in New Orleans, which scientific evidence later showed he could not possibly have committed. The Innocence Project of New Orleans and Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office cooperatively reinvestigated the case and jointly asked to overturn the conviction, which the judge who quashed the conviction called “an egregious injustice.” The firm is co-counsel with the New Orleans-based Murell Law Firm.
July 28, 2023
DAVID B. SHANIES NAMED TO LAWDRAGON 500
David B. Shanies earned recognition in Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers. The annual guide studies lawyers and firms that “have had significant impact, including an emphasis on recent cases handled and victories and settlements won. We review cutting-edge litigation, as well as trends in Civil Rights and Plaintiff Employment law and review the lawyers consistently turned to for guidance in those matters.”
July 13, 2023
SHANIES LAW WINS THIRD CIRCUIT APPEAL
Shanies Law scored a major appellate victory before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which reinstated a civil rights lawsuit arising from a wrongful conviction in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and returned the case to the district court for a jury trial. The appeals court’s precedential opinion was especially significant because it clarified the standard for evidence fabrication claims and made clear that municipalities can be held liable for constitutional violations even where the defendants involved escape individual liability. The decision is published as Mervilus v. Union County, 73 F.4th 185 (3d Cir. 2023).
David B. Shanies, who argued the appeal and co-wrote the briefs with Deborah I. Francois, told the New Jersey Monitor, “The court’s opinion is important not only because it guarantees Emmanuel Mervilus his day in court and a trial by jury, but because it clarified a number of important points of law that will help civil rights litigants in the future.”
JUNE 1, 2023
David B. Shanies recognized by super lawyers
David B. Shanies was once again selected by Super Lawyers for 2023. Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top attorneys in the New York City area, through a multiphase process involving peer nomination, independent research, and peer evaluation. This is David’s fifth consecutive year of being selected by Super Lawyers.
February 9, 2023
Shanies law obtains quarter million dollar settlement in nypd racism lawsuit
Shanies Law successfully settled a lawsuit brought by a Black NYPD sergeant who sued the Department after being subjected to harassment and retaliation for reporting racial discrimination within the NYPD’s Highway Division. Last year, the firm won an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, argued by Deborah Francois, which reinstated Sergeant Andre Sce’s retaliation claims against the City of New York. The case was settled for $250,000, an amount more than ten times the average of all settlements and judgments in employment retaliation cases reported by the EEOC in 2022.
