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Practice Area >> Civil Rights Litigation

Civil Rights Litigation

The United States constitution provides protection to individuals against abuse and overreaching by government representatives including law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and prison officials. Legal rights are guaranteed in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights protecting against unlawful searches and seizures, denial of due process of law and protection of an individual’s right to be free of unreasonable use of force or the denial of basic human rights while in police custody. When government actors violate those rights individuals can sue to recover money damages and other forms of legal relief. Individual’s whose civil rights have been violated may be able to recover money damages for lost wages, medical bills, the cost of retaining counsel to defend against false criminal charges, pain and suffering and attorney’s fees and costs. Greenblatt, Pierce, Funt & Flores provide representation to individuals who have been falsely arrested, maliciously prosecuted, denied medical care while imprisoned, unlawfully detained beyond release date or subjected to the unnecessary use of force by police or corrections officers by bringing claims under the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and the Civil Rights Statute enacted to preserve those rights, 42 U.S.C. §1983. The types of claims that can be brought include:
  • False arrest
  • Excessive Force/Brutality
  • Malicious Prosecution and Abuse of Process
  • Denial of Medical Care
Ronald L. Greenblatt and Patricia V. Pierce co-chair the Civil Rights Practice Group. Their unique combination of criminal and civil litigation expertise make them ideally suited to guide your case in this complex area of the law. Ronald L. Greenblatt is the Managing Partner at Greenblatt, Pierce, Funt, and Flores, LLC. Mr. Greenblatt has successfully litigated complex criminal and civil rights cases n the Federal, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Court. Mr. Greenblatt is a past chairperson of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL). He currently serves on PACDL’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Greenblatt he holds the preeminent AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell indicative of the highest rating for both legal ability and ethical standards, and has been selected as a Super Lawyer. Patricia V. Pierce is a Partner at GPFF and also chairs the firm’s Employment Group. Ms. Pierce has over thirty years of experience protecting the rights of individuals in civil and criminal matters. Ms. Pierce has been regularly named to Best Lawyers for nearly two decades. Every year since 2004, Ms. Pierce has been selected a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® by Thomson Reuters and has been named one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Pennsylvania. Ms. Pierce holds the preeminent AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell indicative of the highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards. Ms. Pierce has taught evidence at and trial advocacy at both Temple University Beasely School of Law and the Santa Clara School of Law. GPFF has achieved outstanding results for our civil rights clients including:
  • $1.5 million dollar settlement on behalf of a 19 year old man shot in the leg by police following a high speed chase
  • $275,000 settlement for a young woman falsely arrested and tasered by police
  • $60,000 recovery for minor unlawfully arrested and imprisoned
  • $40,000 recovery for adult mistakenly identified and arrested
  • $100,000 to a mon falsely arrested by the police and charged with aggravated assault on the police
  • Undisclosed amount to a man falsely arrested inside a casino
  • $450,000 to a juvenile falsely charged with Rape and related offenses and then held in custody for almost a year
  • $75,000 to a man for a wrist injury due to had handcuffing by the police after being arrested
  • $90,000 to a man falsely arrested by reason of mistaken identity and taken off the plane to his relative’s funeral.

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