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Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
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Non-Profit
Experience
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Hurricane Katrina Victims Class
Ridgely et al v. Federal Emergency Management Agency et al.
Since early 2007, Weil has represented victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in a class action suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), securing in late 2010 final approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana for a proposed $2.65 million settlement agreement. The plaintiffs are low-income residents displaced from their homes as a direct result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who received financial housing assistance from FEMA pursuant to the Stafford Act. The complaint alleged that FEMA violated their constitutional rights by discontinuing that assistance without adequate notice or the opportunity for a meaningful appeal. The suit also challenged FEMA’s standards and procedures for recovering allegedly overpaid housing assistance. The court certified two classes and granted plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. After FEMA appealed the injunction, the case was remanded for further factual development. FEMA later voluntarily withdrew all of its thousands of pending repayment demands, announcing that it would review and adopt new procedures before attempting to recover allegedly overpaid assistance. Since that time, Weil had conducted extensive settlement negotiations, resulting in the class settlement.
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American Intellectual Property Law Association
In re Seagate Technology
Representing American Intellectual Property Law Association as amicus before the Federal Circuit, Weil Gotshal argued foundational concepts surrounding attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product immunity which will have significant long-term implications for patent trial practice. The circuit’s en banc decision followed the attorney-client privilege arguments that Weil advanced.
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Disabled American Veterans|National Veterans Legal Services Program
Kirkendall v. Department Of Army
Successfully represented, as amici, the Disabled American Veterans and the National Veterans Legal Services Program on an appeal that reversed the anti-disabled veteran state of the law in two key areas.
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New York City Bar Association's Vance Center for International Justice Initiatives
Colombia Same-Sex Partnership Rights
Drafted an amicus brief for submission to the Constitutional Court of Colombia, that led to a landmark decision by the Court that same-sex couples are entitled to register their domestic partnerships and receive certain economic benefits on equal terms with opposite-sex couples.
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Ashoka Foundation
Ashoka Foundation/Friends of Integration Association “Barrier-Free Poland” Campaign
Assisted the Friends of Integration Association, a prominent Polish non-governmental organization that is focused on promoting the social integration of people with disabilities with drafting leaflets and a “law in practice” guide that instructs individuals on how to initiate administrative proceedings to remove obstacles that prevent disabled individuals from having access to urban infrastructure.
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Council for Senior Centers & Services of New York City, Inc.
Council for Senior Centers and Services assessment
Participated in the second annual “Legal Assessment and Training Day,” coordinated by Lawyers Alliance for New York, to assist the Council for Senior Centers & Services of New York City, Inc. with a variety of legal issues affecting not-for-profit senior centers, including corporate governance, contracts, employment and real estate law.
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Oxfam
Hunger Banquet
Involved in creating programs to educate the public about Oxfam, including the development of a 50-minute workplace version of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet to teach participants about global hunger.
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Tenafly Eruv Association Inc.
Tenafly Eruv Association, Inc. v. The Borough of Tenafly
In a major First Amendment case of first impression that went to the United States Supreme Court, Weil Gotshal successfully obtained a preliminary injunction barring a New Jersey town from removing plastic strips that a group of Orthodox Jews had affixed to telephone poles in order to create an "eruv." The eruv is a ritual boundary within which Orthodox Jews may conduct certain activities on the Sabbath that would otherwise be confined to the home.
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Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
Filed a complaint and motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to stop US Office of Personnel Management OPM from publishing a listing of CFC-eligible charities that did not include Make-A-Wish.
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Empire State Development Corporation
Empire State Development Corporation
Defended the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the parent entity of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), in an Article 78 proceeding before the New York Supreme Court. New York City television station NY1 News sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIL) access to videotaped discussions between New York Governor George Pataki, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the LMDC World Trade Center Memorial Jury, the entity charged with picking the World Trade Center Memorial. The Judge's ruling is the first opinion that has ever extended FOIL protection to private citizens that were not compensated for the services that they rendered on behalf of a public agency.
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American Red Cross
Multiple Alleged Discrimination Cases
Defense of the American Red Cross in multiple cases alleging employment discrimination on the basis of race and sex. Obtained dismissal and/or favorable settlements in all cases.
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AALDEF
Voting Rights Lawsuit Against the New York City Board of Elections
Representing several individual and organizational plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) by the New York City Board of Elections.
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Adoption Project
Pro Bono Adoption Project
Represented prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt children in foster care, and assisted other adoptive parents in connection with post-adoption legal hurdles involving government subsidies and custody disputes.
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Countries Seeking Trade Liberalization
Trade Liberalization of countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific
Prepared a memo addressing how the degree and pace of trade liberalization in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries would affect the countries’ ability to meet minimum requirements of trade agreements with the European Union.
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Habitat for Humanity
Governance and Infrastructure Matters
Representing the Budapest chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit that operates worldwide raising funds and resources to build homes for the poor and those who have lost their homes due to natural disasters, in connection with a public prosecutor’s action against it regarding the legal operation of two entities in Hungary.
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InfoDev
E-Government for Developing Countries
Involved in a pioneering e-government pro bono project for InfoDev, a group of non-governmental organizations led by Internews and the Center for Democracy and Technology.
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Legal Aid Society
Defending Prisoners' Rights
Weil Gotshal obtained a complete plaintiff’s verdict on behalf of a client who was physically assaulted by five corrections officers while incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York. The beating, which lasted almost three minutes and took place while our client was still handcuffed, resulted in at least 12 documented injuries to his face, jaw, abdomen, and back. The jury awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages and $550,000 in punitive damages, for a total damages award of $750,000. After New York State agreed to indemnify the defendants, the case settled for $200.000”
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Mediation Advisory Services
Restructuring of Mediation Advisory Services
Advised Mediation Advisory Services on a number of insolvency, property, corporate and employment issues that were crucial to its immediate survival and, subsequently, to its orderly restructuring.
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National Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation Ranch Dispute
Represented, as amici curiae, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of natural resources, and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF), which works to protect and enhance wildlife habitat, to protect citizens’ rights to use public lands and waters and to promote ethical hunting and fishing.
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Oxfam
Law Firm Consortium
Helping Oxfam coordinate a Law Firm Consortium to develop and implement innovative strategies for Oxfam.
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Oxfam
Post-Katrina Gulf Recovery
Assisted Oxfam with research, advice and drafting assistance to Oxfam in its efforts to ensure that low- and moderate-income households, renters and minorities were not excluded disproportionately from the federal Katrina Recovery Homeowner Grant Program and that the State of Mississippi’s action plan fulfilled the basic tenets of the Fair Housing Act.
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The Center for Reproductive Rights
Analysis of UN’s Monitor of Women’s Reproductive Rights
Assisting the Center for Reproductive Rights, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and defending women’s reproductive rights worldwide, in updating Bringing Rights to Bear: An Analysis of the Work of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies on Reproductive and Sexual Rights.
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The Legal Aid Society
Guide to Small Businesses
Assisted The Legal Aid Society in preparing a presentation to train pro bono attorneys from New York City’s major law firms who provide legal assistance to the Legal Aid’s small business clients.
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Western Shoshone Defense Project
Legal Protections for Cultural Resources
Prepared analysis of legal protections available for cultural resources for Oxfam partner the Western Shoshone Defense Project.
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