Jonathan S. Abady, a partner in the firm, has a diverse trial and litigation practice, with extensive experience in both the state and federal courts. Mr. Abady, along with Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, successfully litigated and argued Gasperini v. The Center for Humanities, 518 U.S. 415 (1996) in the United States Supreme Court, a seminal case in Seventh Amendment jurisprudence now featured in law school case books throughout the country. In 2008, Mr. Abady was named in The Best Lawyers in America as one of New York's top attorneys in the area of civil rights law. See www.bestlawyers.com.

Some of the individuals and clients Mr. Abady has represented over the years include famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein, internationally acclaimed artist Donald Sultan, former Chief Investment Officer at Citigroup Marc P. Weill, former world heavyweight boxing champion Tim Witherspoon, Pulitzer prize nominated photojournalist Arthury Grace, recording star Ronnie Spector, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Penguin Putnam, Urban Box Office Network, and numerous high-level executives in contract negotiations and employment disputes.

Mr. Abady also has substantial experience in class action and multi-party litigation. Along with other members of the firm, he represents family members of victims who died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in a historic lawsuit that resulted in a $2.7 billion settlement with the government of Libya. From 1997 to 2003, Mr. Abady was co-counsel to the Republic of Ecuador in international environmental litigation aimed at securing relief for contamination of the Amazon rain forest. Mr. Abady was one of the lead lawyers in Ingles v. Toro, a large class action lawsuit, which established major reform in the jail system at Rikers Island in New York City.
In the area of civil rights, Mr. Abady has represented numerous plaintiffs in wrongful death actions, police misconduct cases, First Amendment litigation, and voting rights cases. In 2000, Mr. Abady was a member of the team of lawyers who litigated voting irregularities in Florida in the Bush-Gore Presidential election.

Mr. Abady began his legal career as a trial lawyer, and was then a supervising attorney with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a national demonstration project in New York City that provides criminal defense services to indigent residents of the Harlem community.

Education

New York University School of Law, J.D., 1990; Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar; Best Oralist; Orison S. Marden Moot Court Competition; Colloquium Editor, Review of Law & Social Change; Criminal Defense Clinic

American University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1983, Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society, University Honors Program, Dean's List

U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; New York The Federal Bar Council; Association of the Bar of the City of New York; The American Bar Association (ABA); National Voting Rights Institute Board of Advisors; Board of Trustees for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem; New York City Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Faculty Member; National Criminal Justice Commission Panel of Advisors; Police Abuse Lawyers Coalition

Recovered, with other members of the firm, in excess of $40 million for family members who lost relatives in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Recovered approximately $5 million in litigations on behalf of Urban Box Office, Inc. (UBO).

Won jury verdict of $3.1 million in police misconduct case in Morales v. City of New York.

Recovered, with co-counsel, $2.2 million in damages for excessive force claims in Ingles v. Toro.

Obtained settlement recovery and jury verdict totaling $1.7 million in police misconduct case in Banks v. City of New York.

Recovered $1.3 million in civil rights suit against the City of New York in Rice v. City of New York.

Won jury verdict of $1.3 million in wrongful death action in Black v. Getchell and K.P. Rent-a-Car.

Won jury verdict in excess of $1.3 million in breach of contract and fraud case in Witherspoon v. Rappaport.

Obtained settlement in large-scale antitrust litigation representing a subsidiary of News Corporation against America Online in Kesmai v. AOL.

Represented the Republic of Ecuador in precedent-setting international environmental litigation in Aguinda v. Texaco.

Co-lead counsel in class action litigatin which achieved major institutional reform in New York City Department of Corrections in Ingles v. Toro.