Schoolcraft v. The City Of New York et al

Filing 560

DECLARATION of Joshua P. Fitch (Master Declaration) in Support re: 559 MOTION for Attorney Fees , Costs and Disbursements.. Document filed by Adrian Schoolcraft. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Declaration of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 2 Exhibit B - Declaration of Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 3 Exhibit C - Declaration of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq., # 4 Exhibit D - Declaration of Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., # 5 Exhibit E - Declaration of John Lenoir, Esq., # 6 Exhibit F - Declaration of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 7 Exhibit G - Declaration of Magdalena Bauza, # 8 Exhibit H - Billing Entries and Costs for Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 9 Exhibit I - Billing Entries and Costs for Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 10 Exhibit J - Billing Entries for Joshua P. Fitch, Esq., # 11 Exhibit K - Billing Entries and Costs for Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., # 12 Exhibit L - Billing Entries for John Lenoir, Esq., # 13 Exhibit M - Billing Entries for Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 14 Exhibit N - Billing Entries for Magdalena Bauza, # 15 Exhibit O - Declaration of Jonathan Abady, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 16 Exhibit P - Declaration of Christopher Galiardo, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 17 Exhibit Q - Declaration of Afsaan Saleem, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Jon L. Norinsberg, Esq., # 18 Exhibit R - Declaration of Michael L. Spiegel, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Nathaniel Smith, Esq., # 19 Exhibit S - Declaration of Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 20 Exhibit T - Declaration of Irving Cohen, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 21 Exhibit U - Declaration of Katherine Smith, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Joshua P. Fitch, Esq. and Gerald M. Cohen, Esq., partners of Cohen & Fitch LLP, # 22 Exhibit V - Declaration of Hugh M. Mo, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of John Lenoir, Esq., # 23 Exhibit W - Declaration of Jeffrey Schlanger, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of John Lenoir, Esq., # 24 Exhibit X - Declaration of David Finkler, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 25 Exhibit Y - Declaration of Mitchell Bloch, Esq. in support of the hourly rate of Howard A. Suckle, Esq., # 26 Exhibit Z - 2013-2014 National Law Journal Billing Survey of Large Firm Billing Rates, # 27 Exhibit AA - 2013-2014 New York City Law Department Year in Review for the Special Federal Litigation Division, # 28 Exhibit BB - New York City Law Department Special Federal Litigation Homepage, # 29 Exhibit CC - Verdict Search's Top Verdicts of 2013, # 30 Exhibit DD - Super Lawyers 2015 Annual List of Top Lawyers in the New York Metro Area, # 31 Exhibit EE - Order in Bernabe v. City of New York, 13 CV 5531 (LGS) relating to Mr. Norinsberg's hourly rate)(Fitch, Joshua)

EXHIBIT
“Q”

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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ADRIAN SCHOOLCRAFT,
Plaintiff,

-against-

DECLARATION OF
AFSAAN SALEEM

10-CV-6005 (RWS)

CITY OF NEW YORK,
Defendant.
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AFSAAN SALEEM, an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York, declares,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, under penalty of perjury, as follows:
1.

I submit this Declaration in support of the attorneys’ fee application submitted in the

above-captioned matter by plaintiff’s counsel, Jon L. Norinsberg, an attorney whom I have known for
several years.
2.

I received my law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2001. At Brooklyn Law, I was

an Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellow, an Academic Achievement scholar and a participant
in the Federal Litigation and Social Justice Project Clinic.
3.

Upon graduation from law school, I was appointed as an Assistant Corporation Counsel

of the City of New York and began working in the Brooklyn Borough Office of the Tort Division
defending the municipality and its employees in state court negligence and civil rights actions.
4.

In 2005, after only four years at the Law Department, I was promoted to Senior Counsel

and designated as a trial attorney. During my tenure in the Brooklyn Tort office, I tried thirteen cases
to verdict, had several cases settle during trial and picked over thirty juries. I have engaged in extensive

pre-trial and post-trial motion practice, conducted over 200 depositions and drafted several motions that
were decided in the City’s favor on appeal to the Second Department. See Dick v. The Gap, Inc., 16
A.D.3d 615 (2nd Dept. 2005); Santoro v. City of New York, 795 N.Y.S.2d 60 (2nd Dept. 2005); Moody v
New York City Bd. of Educ., 8 AD3d 639 (2nd Dept. 2004); Palopoli v. City of New York, 305 A.D.2d
388 (2nd Dept. 2003). Further, I served as trial counsel in Shaperonovitch v. City of New York, which
resulted in a landmark 2008 New York Court of Appeals decision fundamentally changing the notice
requirements in personal injury cases in New York State. See D’Onofrio v. City of New York, 11
N.Y.3d 581 (2008).
5.

In 2006, I transferred to the Special Federal Litigation Division of the New York City

Law Department. I was immediately assigned to the role of a Senior Counsel on the class action
entitled McBean v. City of New York, 02-CV-5426 (JGK) (THK) and the related action brought by
intervenor-plaintiffs, Ramos v. City of New York.

The McBean litigation involved constitutional

challenges to the New York City Department of Correction’s (“DOC”) new admission strip-search
policies at six of the jails on Rikers Island. The case garnered extensive media attention and ultimately
settled in 2010 for $33 million, including $4 million in attorneys’ fees.
6.

Aside from work on McBean, while serving in Special Federal Litigation, I handled

approximately eighty four §1983 cases in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York involving
claims of false arrest, malicious prosecution and/or excessive force by police officers. I have litigated

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and tried cases against some of the most well-known plaintiff’s civil rights attorneys. I was lead trial
counsel in the 2007 trial of Green v. City of New York before the Honorable Richard M. Berman in the
Southern District of New York, which involved the involuntary hospitalization of a ventilatordependent individual with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
7.

In 2008, I tried Estes v. City of New York, a § 1983 false arrest and excessive force case,

before the Honorable Sandra L. Townes in the Eastern District of New York, obtaining a defense
verdict against Fred Lichtmacher, a well-respected civil rights plaintiff’s attorney. See 01-CV-5158
(SLT). In 2009, I tried the § 1983 false arrest and excessive force case Stephen v. Hanley before the
Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto in the Eastern District of New York. The plaintiffs in Stephen were
represented pro bono by a team of attorneys from Mayer Brown. One of the plaintiffs obtained
nominal damages on a single claim against one of the defendants. The verdict was otherwise in favor
of the nine defendants. On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed and the Supreme Court denied certiori.
Stephen v. Hanley, 376 Fed.Appx. 158 (2d Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 795 (2010).
8.

In September 2010, I entered private practice and founded Harvis & Saleem with Mr.

Harvis. Since its founding, the firm has filed approximately 50 § 1983 civil rights cases in the Southern
and Eastern Districts of New York, the vast majority of which involve claims of false arrest, excessive
force and/or malicious prosecution. In that time, I have tried three cases against the City of New York
with Mr. Harvis. In March 2012, the firm merged with two other law firms to create the firm of Harvis
Marinelli Saleem & Wright LLP.

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9.

In May 2013, I left the firm to work on a political campaign and then to serve as the

Deputy Director of the Legal Division of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. I have
since returned to private practice joining The Rameau Law Firm where I am responsible for all aspects
of the firm’s cases , including but not limited to, conducting depositions, attending court conferences,
conducting client intakes, and raising and responding to discovery issues.
10.

I have litigated against Mr. Norinsberg on several occasions in the past. Mr.

Norinsberg’s reputation as a skilled litigator precedes him.

I have been impressed by how Mr.

Norinsberg conducted himself. He was adept at recognizing the issues and worked quickly to resolve
cases early, which proved to be in the best interest of all the parties. Mr. Norinsberg has always
presented himself with the utmost professionalism and has proven himself to be a skilled litigator.
11.

Accordingly, based upon my fifteen years practicing as an attorney, half of which has

been spent practicing in the field of civil rights litigation, I fully support Mr. Norinsberg’s requested
hourly rate of $600.00 as entirely reasonable, and in line with the prevailing rates for an attorney of his
caliber, experience and reputation in the Southern District.
DATED:

New York, New York
December 9, 2015

____________________________
AFSAAN SALEEM

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