Practice Areas

The firm’s public entity defense practice provides counties, municipalities, public agencies, public officials, and public employees with legal advice and representation in a wide variety of civil litigation matters.

Our public entity clients benefit from the body of expertise we have developed over the last 30 years of handling the particular and often difficult issues faced by public entity defendants.

Our public entity practice focuses on the defense of public entities in tort and damages actions brought by plaintiffs. These actions often include civil rights claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and/or state civil rights statutes, which require the assertion and litigation of government immunity defenses.

We understand that civil rights actions present unique considerations for our clients and must be defended thoughtfully and vigorously from the inception of the action.

Cases we regularly handle on behalf of our public entity clients include the following types of claims:

• Excessive force by law enforcement
• Deliberate indifference to prisoner medical or mental health needs
• Unlawful search and seizure, including unlawful strip searches
• Wrongful arrest or prosecution
• Unlawful removal of minors from parental custody based on suspected neglect or abuse
• Improper detention and supervision of minors in foster care
• Failure to provide mental health services to meet needs of special education students
• Discrimination and harassment in the public workplace
• Invasion of federal or state privacy rights
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations
• Dangerous conditions of public property
• Negligent road design