Civil Rights Attorney in California

The civil rights you have as a United States citizen apply to many different aspects of life. If you are passed over for a promotion at work because of your race, that’s illegal. If your child isn’t given the same opportunities at school as other students, that’s also a potential violation. Other frequent civil rights violations we see include: landlords refusing to rent apartments to people of a certain race or religion, banks not lending money to minority-owned small businesses, or charging them higher interest rates than everyone else. There are many other examples, and our civil rights attorneys have successfully won a wide variety of cases.

Because civil rights violations often affect a large number of people, at times our victories have been ‘class action’ suits, in which we represent a group of people, usually against a business, government institution, or police department or law enforcement agency.

But we also represent individuals everyday people whose names have become synonymous with the fight for civil rights and social justice, such as: Rodney King, Oscar Grant and Theresa Sheehan.

Almost by definition, people harmed by civil rights violations are usually regular people without a lot of money or power. Sometimes they assume that because they don’t have a lot of money, they can’t hire a law firm like Burris Nisenbaum Curry & Lacy to take their case. But we often work on a ‘contingency’ basis, meaning we’re paid a percentage of the settlement or court order if we win, so that our client doesn’t need to pay us anything out of pocket. So if you’re a victim of a civil rights violation, you should consult with us, even if you don’t have money to pay us. We still may be able to help.

Civil rights cases aren’t always easy to win in court, because the burden of proof can be high. In many cases, the best option for our clients is to reach a settlement in which the defendant (the person or organization you’re suing) agrees to pay financial compensation to you, and commits to systemic change so that they don’t continue the illegal practices in question.

Many people who come to us for help are concerned about possible future retaliation or discrimination against them if they come forward to defend their rights. This is often particularly true when the issue concerns powerful institutions like police departments, or their current employer who they fear will retaliate by firing them. At Burris Nisenbaum Curry & Lacy, we understand why our clients are worried about this possibility, but we also know how to protect you. It is illegal for employers to fire you because you are suing them, and it is also illegal to fire you because you’ve won (or lost) a legal measure against them. In that case, you can also win a wrongful termination decision against them in addition to the original civil rights lawsuit which prompted the termination.

In other words: don’t be intimidated away from fighting for your rights either because you don’t think you can afford a lawyer or because you are worried that taking your case to court will make your situation worse.