Source: https://browngold.com/team/andy-freeman
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 13:07:33+00:00

Document:
Andy Freeman obtains justice for his clients. He has won numerous verdicts, judgments, and settlements of millions and tens of millions of dollars by mastering the relevant law and getting to know his clients, their problems, and the evidence in their cases.
Other lawyers bring Andy cases that present complicated combinations of law and facts or that require making new law. After finding witnesses the defendant had failed to disclose, Andy won $7 million at trial for a mother whose toddler had been killed by a pit bull; and he collected all of it after convincing Maryland’s highest court that a landlord with knowledge and control of a tenant’s dangerous pet should be held responsible for the pet’s attacks on visitors. After a California lawyer told University of California students that they could not challenge tuition increases, Andy won them over $40 million and then won a second group of students over $49 million. He convinced a federal court that Maryland’s tax sale laws requiring notice to landlords and their lenders – but not their tenants – violated the tenants’ rights, and won a substantial verdict for two wrongly evicted tenants.
Juries trust Andy. When he asked a jury to fully compensate an African-American school superintendent whose contract had not been renewed because of his race, the jury awarded every penny he was owed (over $500,000, plus fees) and recommended that a school be named in his honor.
Judges respect Andy. One federal judge appointed him to represent prisoners in a collective action over second-hand tobacco smoke (a case that resulted in compensation for the clients and the banning of tobacco from Maryland’s prisons), another asked him to serve on the U.S. District Court’s task force regarding electronic discovery, and the Chief Judge asked him to serve on that court’s bench-bar subcommittee on attorneys’ fees.
His peers chose Andy as the Maryland Trial Lawyer of the Year.
Rivera v. Mo’s Fisherman Exch., Inc. – Successfully negotiated a $1 million settlement on behalf of restaurant workers against the Mo’s Seafood chain for wage and hour violations (2018).
Successfully represented American Oversight, a watchdog group focused on the executive branch, to obtain the expedited unsealing of a confidential 1999 report on alleged improper leaks from the Office of Independent Counsel (Ken Starr’s investigation of President Clinton), where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh worked as a prosecutor (2018).
Tenae Smith, et al. v. Westminster Management, LLC, et al. – Represent tenants in large Baltimore-area apartment complexes managed by Westminster Management (Jared Kushner’s family real estate company) in a class action lawsuit alleging inflated late fees charged to tenants in violation of state laws.
James Owens v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore – Obtained a $9 million settlement on behalf of a man who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for 21 years after Baltimore homicide detectives concealed exculpatory evidence (2018).
The Estate of Robert Ethan Saylor, et al. v. Regal Cinemas, Inc. et al. – Obtained a $1.9 million settlement on behalf of the parents of a young man with Down syndrome who was killed by deputy sheriffs who dragged him from a movie theater for the “crime” of wanting to watch a movie a second time without buying a second ticket (2018).
Branden Owens v. Officer 666 – Won a substantial verdict and settlement on behalf of a man who was wrongfully arrested and assaulted in response to asking a Baltimore police officer for his badge number (2016).
Keller v. Regents of California State University – Obtained a $1.4 million settlement on behalf of class of 2,500 students who were charged a new fee after already having registered for classes (2015).
Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency v. U.S. Department of the Army – Won arbitration panel decision that the Army violated the Randolph-Sheppard Act by failing to apply the Act’s priority to a “Dining Facility Attendant” contract (2015).
Johnson v. Hooters of America, LLC – Won an arbitration award of more than $250,000 on behalf of an African-American former Hooters server who was fired from her job because of Hooters’ racially discriminatory image policy (2015).
B.F. v. Truck Company – Obtained settlement of over $1.5 million on behalf of a client who collided with the rear end of a truck that had a defectively designed underride guard (2014).
Software Developer v. Government Agency – After a government agency cancelled a software developer’s contract and refused to pay its bill of over $1 million, we developed and executed a strategy that convinced the agency to pay the bill in full and cost the client less than $25,000 in fees (2013).
Busch v. Clise Coal Co. – won $3.9 million verdict for family of a worker electrocuted when a crane operator used a crane too close to high-voltage power lines (2013).
Gray v. The Walt Disney Company – won summary judgment holding that the owners and operators of the ESPN Zone restaurant in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor violated the WARN Act when they closed the restaurant without providing the employees with the 60-day notice required by law and without paying them the full amount they would have earned had they received that notice (915 F. Supp. 2d 725 (D. Md. 2013)).
Thompson v. HUD – obtained class-action settlement that will provide 2,400 vouchers (in addition to 1,800 already obtained under partial consent decree) to enable poor African-American families to move from public housing and other segregated areas of Baltimore City to communities of opportunity throughout the Baltimore region (2012). Co-lead counsel for remedies phase of trial, settlement negotiations, and implementation (2006 to present).
Luquetta v. Regents of the University of California – won $49 million in class action against the University for breaching its promise to hold certain fees constant for the duration of students’ enrollment (judgment 2010; affirmed 2012). California Lawyer magazine recognized this win with a 2013 “California Lawyer of the Year” award.
Project Vote v. Dickerson – won Fourth Circuit reversal of District Court’s refusal to award fees for plaintiffs who obtained nominal damages and repeal of regulation that unconstitutionally prohibited voter registration at transit stops, followed by award of $200,000 in attorneys’ fees (2011 WL 3796157 (4th Cir. 2011); fee award 2012).
Mayor & City Council v. Rolley – won defense verdict on behalf of former employee from whom the City had sought the return of pay she received during leave with which the City had erroneously credited her, and during which she had worked from home (2012).
Blake v. Crain – won $7 million verdict for 31-year-old roofer permanently disabled in a motor vehicle collision (2012).
Scott v. Merck & Co. – won $555,000 verdict on behalf of former pharmaceutical salesperson who was fired in violation of promise in employee handbook that employees would not be retaliated against for raising business practice issues in good faith, 2010 WL 4941994 (D. Md.).
N.W. v. ABC, Inc. – obtained $750,000 settlement for the wrongful death of an infant who died as a result of a day care center’s failure to use safe-sleep practices (2010).
J.D. v. A.P., Inc. – obtained $300,000 settlement for woman sexually harassed by her supervisor (2010).
Kashmiri v. Regents of the University of California – won $42 million in a class action on behalf of University of California students for tuition overcharges; judgment affirmed on appeal at 156 Cal. App. 4th 809 (2007).
HD Joint Venture v. Eggspectation USA, LLC – represented group of investors in obtaining the return, with interest and attorneys’ fees, of their $1 million investment in a start-up company (2007).
Ford v. Baltimore City Department of Social Services – obtained settlement of over $2 million for child seriously injured in foster care (2007).
Cochran v. PHI – obtained settlement of $825,000 for choking death of intellectually disabled resident of group home (2007).
Wenzel v. Brooke – won verdict of $15 million on behalf of victim of child sexual abuse (2004).
NISH v. Cohen and NISH v. Rumsfeld – lead counsel for blind vendors in cases that established that Randolph-Sheppard Act applies to military mess halls, 247 F.3d 197 (4th Cir. 2001), 348 F.3d 1263 (10th Cir. 2003).
In re Creditrust Corp. Securities Litigation – obtained dismissal of outside directors from suit for alleged securities fraud that ultimately settled for $7.5 million as to other defendants (2002).
Halliday v. Sturm, Ruger & Co. – represented the plaintiff in the first case in the country filed against a handgun manufacturer for its failure to childproof its guns, 368 Md. 186, 792 A.2d 1145 (2002).
Tozzi v. Advanced Medical Management – obtained settlements totaling over $200,000 for woman wrongfully fired following bilateral mastectomies (2002).
Thompson v. HUD – won award of $1.5 million in fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys for their enforcement of partial consent decree desegregating Baltimore’s public housing, 2001 WL 1636517 (D. Md. 2001). Co-lead counsel since 2002 in enforcing the partial consent decree.
McIntyre v. Robinson – appointed by federal court to represent prisoners injured by second-hand tobacco smoke in case that resulted in ban on cigarettes and other tobacco products in Maryland state prisons, 126 F. Supp. 2d 394 (D. Md. 2000).
Matthews v. Amberwood Associates – won $7 million verdict in a case in which Maryland’s highest court established new law regarding a landlord’s responsibility to protect visitors from known dangerous animals, 351 Md. 544, 719 A.2d 119 (1998).
Sallie v. Tax Sale Investors, Inc. – won verdict of over $200,000 on behalf of tenants evicted without notice following a tax sale of the home they rented; the case resulted in a new law requiring notification of tenants before tax sales and before eviction, 998 F. Supp. 612 (D. Md. 1998).
Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. v. Leonard Stulman Enterprises, L.P. – obtained a $900,000 settlement of a housing discrimination case in which a garden apartment development steered African-American tenants to rear units (1997).
Minnesota v. Riley – counsel for blind vendor in first case to apply the Randolph-Sheppard Act to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 107 F.3d 648 (8th Cir. 1997).
Whittington v. Somerset County Board of Education – won verdict of over $800,000 and the renaming of a school in honor of the plaintiff, a former superintendent of schools, in an employment discrimination case (1996).
Fenwick-Schaefer v. Winchester Homes, Inc. – won $2 million verdict for discriminatory advertising, a result that was recognized by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights with its “Outstanding Achievement Award in the Field of Fair Housing” for 1994.
Lawyers’ Round Table, law club member 2001-present.
Safe and Sound: Baltimore’s Campaign for Children, Youth and Families, board member 2002-present.
Legal Aid Bureau Equal Justice Council, member 2006-present.
American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities 2007-present, general counsel 2014-present.
Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, board president 2012-present.
Family League of Baltimore City (Local Management Board that coordinates services for City’s children and families), board president 2000-2010.
Wasserstein Fellow, Harvard Law School, 2006-07 (sponsored by Office of Public Interest Advising).
Beilenson for Congress, treasurer 2005-06.
Robert Wood Johnson Urban Health Initiative, fellow 2001-05.
Foster Parent, Baltimore City Department of Social Services 1988-93; Foster Parents Association of Baltimore, vice president 1990-91.
The Family Tree (formerly Child Abuse Prevention Center of Maryland), board president 1996-97, 1998-99, board member 1991-2000.
Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, board president 1994-96, board member 1993-96.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Baltimore, volunteer 1989-93; CASA Recognition Awards 1990, 1991, 1993.
Maryland Friends of Foster Children, board member 1993-96, board secretary 1994-96.
The Leadership program of the Greater Baltimore Committee, 1995.

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