“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” - Charles de Montesquieu (French Politician and Philosopher, 1689-1755)

The Firm specializes in civil rights cases. Like defending criminal cases, we view bringing civil rights cases as both a legal and a moral obligation. We are dedicated to keeping the police honest. As an attorney and a citizen who reveres the United States Constitution, and who believes that attorneys, in particular, have a special obligation to protect the rights of individuals from unlawful police action, Mr. Trainor aggressively prosecutes civil rights cases on behalf of the victims of police brutality and misconduct, in all of its forms. A police officer who falsely arrests an individual on trumped up charges, or makes him strip naked and cough in a police precinct without cause, or beats up a suspect needlessly dishonors his badge and tramples over the Constitution.

It is a sad fact of life in a large city like New York that some police officers act in conformity with 19th Century NYPD Police Captain Alexander “Clubber” Williams’ view of policing. Captain Williams, a corrupt cop and petty tyrant, often stated that, “There is more law in the end of a policeman’s nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court.” We disagree. Police misconduct cannot stand, and federal law creates a remedy.

Under well-established federal law, it is unlawful for police officers to deprive you of your constitutional rights. Section 1983, as it is known, allows individuals to enlist the federal and state courts to sue police officers and corrections officers who violate your civil rights and liberties. If you are successful in suit, you are entitled to money damages as a result.

Please call us if you have been:

• Arrested and your case was dismissed outright while you were in court or at some later time;

• Arrested (taken into police custody and you were not free to leave) and released with no charges ever being filed against you;

• Falsely arrested;

• Stopped by police without cause for a period of time and they never charged you or issued you a ticket of any kind (usually in the “racial profiling” context);

• Strip searched while in police custody;

• A victim of police brutality and excessive force during your arrest or at anytime while you were in police custody or in central booking (police beat you up or placed overly tight handcuffs on you);

• A victim of police brutality (excessive force) and you were not charged with anything;

• Assaulted by other inmates while in police custody or in a central booking or jail; or

• Sexually harassed by police or corrections officers.

Given the short and strict deadlines for filing a lawsuit against the City of New York and other New York entities, please call us immediately if you believe police or corrections officers have violated your civil rights.