Top best Civil Rights Lawyers Near me in ZIP 44113

Legal Aid's mission is to secure justice and resolve fundamental problems for those who have low incomes and are vulnerable by providing high-quality legal services and working for systemic solutions.. We carry out our mission every day by providing legal services at no cost to clients with low incomes, helping ensure fairness for all in the justice system—regardless of how much money a person has.

As a journalist, Brian D. Bardwell was trained to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”. Now an attorney, he brings the same sensibility to the practice of law, where he focuses on First Amendment rights, whistleblower protection, and access to government records. Clients benefit from a unique set of skills and training that Brian uses to uncover the truth, defend his clients’ rights, and make life miserable for those who abuse their power.. Before he was a lawyer, Bardwell was an award-winning reporter and editor, covering criminal-justice and education issues for newspapers around Northeast Ohio and writing about tax law for State Tax Notes. The National Press Club, the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press Society of Ohio recognized his outstanding writing and investigative skills, which have uncovered a college dropout with a fake degree trying to take over a local school district, sex offenders taking jobs as elementary-school teachers, and even a plot by the Mexican government to hijack the script of the latest James Bond film.. Apart from his journalistic work, Bardwell also spent several years running a small nonprofit focused on promoting the public’s right to access government records. Well before he was an attorney, he was successfully suing local governments that refused to disclose who they were holding in their jails, how they had disciplined public officials, and what property they had seized from their citizens. Based on that work, he was invited to lecture on public-records law by the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys, the Cleveland Employment Inn of Court, and the biennial conference of the ACLU of Ohio, which called him “one of Ohio’s greatest champions of transparency.”. Brian graduated cum laude from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where his aggressive trial-advocacy skills earned him an invitation to the Order of the Barristers. He earned a bachelor’s degree with high distinction from the University of Virginia. His academic research has been published in the University of Virginia’s Oculus and in the Case Western Reserve Law Review.

Andrew Margolius is an attorney practicing employment law, disability and fair housing law in Northeast Ohio, and is the principal in the firm Margolius, Margolius and Associates, an employee rights and housing oriented law firm.  He has been an attorney since 1983 and practices both in federal and state courts.. Mr. Margolius has  successfully litigated cases in both federal and state court.  Noteworthy among his achievements are advanced in disability discrimination law, long term disability precedent, substantial jury verdicts, and vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws, extending to his insistence upon affirmative relief in family status cases such as requiring a landlord to build a playground to remedy past family status discrimination (“affirmative action for kids”).  He was the attorney in McGill v. Bellissimo, a landmark fair housing sexual discrimination verdict which incorporated sexual harassment and hostile environment theories in the fair housing field, and remains as one of the highest sexual harassment awards for a single plaintiff.  In Silvey v. Washington Square Chiropractic Clinic, 2013-Ohio-438, employment law advances occurred. He was also one of the attorneys who tried a month long sexual harassment case resulting in a $497, jury verdict.  He has tried a case largely of first impression based off of religious discrimination and the application of the religious exemption under the Fair Housing Act.  The case resulted in findings of religious discrimination and retaliation in favor of a homeowner, his intended renter and a fair housing organization.  In 2009, he again had a jury trial in a Dayton Ohio sexual harassment housing discrimination case, resulting in a $248,000 verdict.   He frequently lectures on trial tactics and fair housing, disability and employment law.  Disability work includes Michael Stiso v. International Steel Group, No. 13-3503 (6th Cir. 2015)(long term disability, breach of fiducairy duty) and Houston v. UNUM Life Ins Co, No. 06-3644 (6th Cir. 2007).

A former federal prosecutor, large-city law director, and large-firm litigator, Subodh Chandra is The Chandra Law Firm LLC's founding and managing partner. His practice focuses on high-profile civil-rights litigation, along with white-collar-criminal defense and internal investigations.. Chandra is engaged for high-stakes litigation when reputations are on the line. His matters often have a public-interest, crisis-communications, and public-policy dimension.. Examples include. Before founding the firm, Chandra served as director of law for the city of Cleveland, a billion-dollar corporation. Chandra led the work of an 82-lawyer department with both criminal and civil divisions. He also sometimes served as Cleveland's acting mayor.As Cleveland's general counsel, Chandra handled legal work in-house and slashed by nearly 90% spending on outside counsel, saving millions; moved vigorously through in-house investigations to clean up internal corruption; restored the department's reputation; and attracted top performers who helped make it Ohio's most diverse law firm. And his tough-minded, preventive approach reduced Cleveland's liability exposure and payments significantly.Previously, as federal prosecutor, Chandra successfully prosecuted healthcare fraud and corruption—winning a commendation from FBI director Robert Mueller for "demonstrated excellence" as well as from the special agent in charge of the FBI's Cleveland office. Chandra also prosecuted tax fraud, bank fraud, and other economic crimes.. Before that, Chandra served as a litigator in large law firms in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. Chandra defended the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills against high-profile allegations of police misconduct, and represented large media companies and motion-picture studios. Some of his more memorable work included helping defend the television show "Hard Copy" against libel charges by the singer Michael Jackson.. Chandra began his legal career as special presidential counsel at the American Bar Association.Chandra is a graduate of the Yale Law School, where he was executive editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. He also graduated with honors and dual-departmental distinction from Stanford University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year, and which awarded him the John Gardner Fellowship to work as a protégé of Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste.Chandra has served as Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, teaching appellate practice and legal ethics. He has also served as a legal-ethics and attorneys' fees expert in litigation.Long active in assisting people who aspire to public service, Chandra was also a 2006 candidate for Ohio Attorney General, winning most newspaper endorsements. The Cincinnati Enquirer called Chandra "the best candidate Ohio Democrats have produced in years." Chandra was also one of the earliest supporters of President Barack H. Obama, serving on his National Finance Committee, on the national Asian-American advisory committee, and as an Obama delegate to and deputy whip of the Ohio delegation at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.Civically active, Chandra in 2021 was the principal author—on behalf of police-misconduct victims' families—of the city of Cleveland charter amendment that effects greater civilian disciplinary and policy oversight over Cleveland police, and requires that a civilian oversight body maintain Brady evidence records of police officers who have been dishonest. Voters adopted the reform initiative, a model for the nation, overwhelmingly.. Chandra is a longtime member, and serves as co-vice chair, of the Special Ohio Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.Chandra is admitted to practice law in California, Ohio, and New Mexico (inactive), and in federal courts around the country.. Based on the review of his peers, Chandra has been included in Best Lawyers® in America for civil rights and Super Lawyers®. He's been included in America's Top 50 Lawyers. Under his leadership, Chandra Law has been peer-review included in U.S. News and World Reports's Best Law Firms in America for Civil Rights. And he was named 2022 Lawyer of the Year in Civil Rights by Best Lawyers® in America.. Chandra's legal work is featured in the documentaries Free for All! (2008), PAY 2 PLAY: Democracy's High Stakes (2014), and 137 Shots (Netflix 2021).. Chandra and his wife are the proud parents of triplet sons.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Experienced Civil Rights attorney serving clients in Detroit and surrounding areas.