Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. Trial lawyer and appellate advocate representing individuals in police misconduct, housing discrimination, and civil rights cases.
Class action on behalf of inmates at Rikers Island severely injured by correctional officers. Achieved systemic changes to halt excessive violence at the jail.
Settlement on behalf of the family of three children killed in a house fire, holding negligent parties accountable.
Favorable settlement for the family of James Young, an unarmed man choked to death by an NYPD officer while sitting alone on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
Injunctive and monetary settlement in race discrimination case at a 74-unit rental building, requiring non-discriminatory policies and fair housing training.
Sam Shapiro is an experienced trial lawyer and appellate advocate with a broad litigation practice encompassing civil rights cases and commercial matters. His work spans police and correction officer misconduct, housing discrimination, disability discrimination, First Amendment rights, wrongful conviction, and labor rights.
Prior to joining ECBAWM in 2010, Mr. Shapiro worked at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the International Organization for Migration. He also served as a Fellow for Global Rights in the Republic of Congo, documenting economic and social rights abuses caused by natural resource exploitation.
He graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as a senior editor on the Georgetown Journal of International Law, and holds a B.A. from Northwestern University.
Excessive force, false arrest, wrongful death
Inmate rights, jail violence, systemic reform
Fair housing violations, discriminatory practices
Free speech, freedom of assembly, retaliation
ADA compliance, accessibility, discrimination
Innocence claims, prosecutorial misconduct