Litigation Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

Ms. Nora Mae Benavidez Related Seminars and Products

Free Press

Nora Benavidez is a civil and human rights attorney. She works at the intersection of law, tech, and democracy as an ‘urgency incubator’ to elevate interdisciplinary solutions to complex threats facing our society.

In all her work, Benavidez fights to eliminate barriers -- legal, technological, or political -- that may diminish the ability for communities to engage in democracy and with each other. Benavidez consults with policymakers and other entities to minimize online manipulation, maligned operations, and other digital harms which affect civic engagement.

Benavidez serves as Senior Counsel and Director, Digital Justice & Civil Rights at Free Press. She leads the organization’s efforts to protect against digital threats to democracy and to push for media and platform accountability. She develops winning policy and regulatory reform solutions that blunt disinformation, hate, and other maligned online practices while protecting digital civil rights, privacy, and equitable speech. She collaborates with and build support from Congress, the White House, and government agencies to advance digital justice while working with and pressuring technology companies to adopt corporate interventions that mitigate harms caused by their services. She has appeared before the House Oversight Committee and the Federal Trade Commission.

Benavidez serves as Faculty Associate at Arizona State University’s Cronkite Institute where she teaches a course on freedom of expression in the digital age. In 2021, she won the Society of Professional Journalists-Los Angeles Chapter Freedom of Information award for her work defending truth and free expression.

Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tech Policy Press, and other publications. She has been a regular guest on NPR’s The Takeaway and interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, Newsweek, NPR’s Here & Now, Teen Vogue, The Los Angeles Times, AJ+, Vox, Columbia Journalism Review, and more.

Previously, Benavidez served as the director of U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America, where she guided the organization’s national advocacy agenda on First Amendment and free expression issues. She managed PEN America’s domestic fight for freedom of speech, the right to protest, robust local news, and its disinformation defense program.

She has also worked in private practice and at the ACLU of Georgia, litigating significant cases representing victims of voting rights violation

Mr. George Brian Spears Related Seminars and Products

Spears & Filipovits LLC

 Brian Spears has practiced civil rights litigation in Georgia for forty five years.  He is a specialist in litigation involving governmental liability, primarily in the area of police practices.  He is a partner in the firm of Spears & Filipovitz.  

Mr. Gerald Richard Weber Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Law Office of Gerald Weber

Gerry Weber is principal in The Weber Law Offices and focuses on constitutional, civil rights, libel and media law and general litigation. http://www.constitutional-litigation.com Gerry Weber served for seventeen years as Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. He also currently serves as a Senior Staff Counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights, and is an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law and Georgia State College of Law in constitutional litigation, media law and the first amendment. Gerry clerked for the Honorable Carolyn Dineen King, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was named one of the “21 Young Lawyers Leading Us Into the 21 Century” by the American Bar Association and “Top 40 st Achievers under 40" by Georgia Trend Magazine. Gerry Weber has litigated against federal, state and local governments and agencies and some of the largest corporations in the United States. He has successfully struck down numerous laws ranging from state restrictions on the internet to state laws barring fornication and sodomy. He also has chalked up one of the largest monetary awards in the history of the State of Georgia – a $440 million dollar judgment in an international human rights case against a Serbian government torturer.

Mr. Bryan Ludington Sells Related Seminars and Products

The Law Office of Bryan L. Sells LLC

Bryan L. Sells is an Atlanta-based civil rights lawyer specializing in voting rights, election law,
and redistricting. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law, where he teaches the Law of Democracy. . 

Notable recent cases include: Wright v. Sumter County, a successful challenge under Section 2
of the Voting Rights Act to the method of electing that Georgia county’s board of education.

Before launching his own practice in 2016, Bryan served as Special Litigation Counsel in the
Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice from 2010 to
2015. As part of the Voting Section’s management team, Bryan led dozens of investigations into
potential violations of federal voting statutes. 

Before joining the Department of Justice, Bryan was a staff attorney in the National Voting
Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, then based in Atlanta, for 10 years. At the
ACLU, Bryan represented a diverse array of clients in voting-rights and ballot-access matters. 

Bryan began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Myron H. Thompson of the
United States District Court in Montgomery, Alabama. Bryan graduated magna cum laude from
Harvard College and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he served as a
research assistant for the late Professor Jack Greenberg.

Mr. Mark Andrew Begnaud Related Seminars and Products

Eshman Begnaud LLC

Mark Begnaud is a civil rights and personal injury lawyer with Eshman Begnaud in Decatur, Georgia.  Mark is a former public defender who serves on the Georgia Bar’s Indigent Defense Committee, and he is a 2010 graduate of Gideon’s Promise, a public defender training organization.  Since going into private practice, Mark has spent more than a decade litigating Section 1983 cases.  Mark has been certified as lead counsel in two high-profile civil rights class action cases, and he has litigated or is litigating over 50 civil rights cases in Georgia federal courts, more than half of which are custodial cases.  Mark is a graduate of Harvard University and the Georgia State University College of Law.

Ms. Samantha Jill Funt Related Seminars and Products

Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP

Samantha Funt serves as Partner at Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP and is dedicated to zealous advocacy on behalf of victims of wrongdoing. An experienced litigator, Samantha focuses her practice on wrongful death and catastrophic injury in the areas of civil rights, negligent security and medical malpractice – providing counsel at the most critical times. Representative civil rights cases include excessive force, wrongful arrest and prosecution, first amendment violations, prison and jail violence, and medical neglect while in custody. 

Samantha has secured life changing multi-million-dollar settlements for her clients in a variety of matters. This includes her work as lead counsel in a carbon monoxide brain injury case, a medical malpractice case for the overdose of a disabled child, and in numerous civil rights matters for constitutional violations at hands of government officials. Samantha co-counsels with attorneys across the country and values the energy and impact of a varied litigation team. Samantha has been recognized by her peers through selection to the Georgia Trial Lawyer Association’s LEAD Program and also as a Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Her background stems from years of experience representing defendants in negligence and wrongful death actions, giving her intimate knowledge of the way these cases are defended. Prior to joining MSGF, Samantha was a trial attorney in a large national law firm where she handled an expansive caseload in state and federal courts and represented domestic and international clients in areas including premises liability, negligent security, construction defects, products liability, commercial litigation and intellectual property rights.

A trial lawyer at heart, she began her career as a criminal defense attorney with the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office. There, Samantha represented hundreds of clients in juvenile, domestic violence and felony courts. She has litigated criminal charges ranging from misdemeanors to life felonies including murder, drug trafficking, sexual battery, aggravated battery, and robbery, has tried 25 jury trials and has litigated constitutional and evidentiary motions. She has fought against excessive and illegal uses of force, unconstitutional arrests, and police and prison abuses including collaborating with the ACLU. Samantha passionately brings these experiences to her work at MSGF, fighting for those whose rights have been violated by law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

A graduate of the George Washington University Law School, Samantha served as a GW Writing Fellow, VP of the GW Mock Trial Board, and as a student attorney for the GW Public Justice Advocacy Clinic.

Samantha is a multifaceted leader and valued friend in her community. With a degree in music performance from Emory University, she has played as a cellist in community orchestras and enjoys being an active part of the Atlanta music community.

She loves spending time outside and exploring nature with her husband, Eric Funt, and their two young daughters. You can email her directly at sam@mitchellshapiro.com.

Mr. Wingo Fowler Smith III Related Seminars and Products

Spears & Filipovits, LLC

Mr. Leigh Burton Finlayson Related Seminars and Products

Law Office of L Burton Finlayson LLC

Leigh represents persons accused of federal and state offenses at the trial and appellate levels.He is a 1989 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and a former staff attorney with the Federal Defender Program in Atlanta, GA.Prior to the Federal Defender, Leigh worked for Michael Mears & Associates in Decatur, GA, and served as a Fulton County assistant public defender. He is currently serving his fourth term as the CJA Panel Representative for the Northern District of Georgia and served previously as the Defender Services Advisory Group (DSAG) Representative for the 11th Circuit. Leigh vice-chairs the GACDL Federal Law Committee and currently serves asBoard Chair of the Federal Defender Program.Leigh is a past recipient of the Leeza Cherniak Award of the Sword,the Thomas J. Waldrop Truth and Justice Award, and a member of the NDGA Acquittal Club.

Mr. William James Atkins Related Seminars and Products

Warshauer Woodward Atkins

Bill Atkinsrepresents clients inmedical malpractice, wrongful deathandcatastrophic personal injurycases.Bill has also represented individuals in civilrights matters ranging from deadly force, false arrest, malicious prosecutionandother governmental liability matters.Billhas earned a reputation as a tenacious trial lawyer. He has secured six andseven figure verdicts and settlements for his clientsin employment discrimination,civil rights, medical malpractice,andothercatastrophic personal injury cases.Hehas tried cases in Virginia, Florida, Tennessee and throughout Georgia.

Bill is recognized for his expertise in governmental liability. He has givennumerous presentations on qualified and official immunity, ministerial duties andother issues related to law enforcement liability for ICLE and the Georgia TrialLawyers Association. Bill’s article on qualified immunity–“Death by a ThousandCuts”–was published in the Winter, 2020 issue of Verdict magazine. In the wakeof the murder of George Floyd, Bill and Zack Greenamyre co-authored an editorialpublished in the Daily Report calling for reform to official immunity in Georgia.Bill is also a certified mediator and arbitrator at Miles Mediation and Arbitration.Mediation offers a respite from the conflict inherent in a busy trial practice.

Bill enjoys lending neutral perspective and helping parties find ways to reachsettlement.Bill lives in Marietta with his wife, Kathleen, and Puppy, a delightful 15-poundpoodle mix. He has four stepchildren scattered around the country and enjoysfrequent visits with them.He volunteers as a coach of the Walton High SchoolMock Trial team.He plays golf, enjoys sailing and wastes far too much emotionalenergy rooting for various sports teams.

Mr. Frank Daniel LoMonte Related Seminars and Products

Warner Media

Frank LoMonte is senior legal counsel to the newsroom at Atlanta-based Cable News Network, Inc., and an adjunct professor with the University of Georgia School of Law. A former associate with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, LoMonte clerked for judges on the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. His articles about First Amendment topics have been widely published in journals including the Missouri Law Review, Temple Law Review, and many others. He is a 2000 honors graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he taught as the Otis Brumby Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law. 

Ms. Clare Rivka Norins Related Seminars and Products

University of Georgia School of Law

Clare R. Norins is a clinical associate professor and director of the University of Georgia  School of Law's First Amendment Clinic, which represents clients in federal and state court on a range of free expression and media law issues. Norins is the co-recipient of the national Clinic Legal Education Association's 2021 award for Excellence in a Public Interest case. Her scholarship has been published in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the Washington & Lee Law Review Online, and the George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. She is a board member of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and an executive committee member of the American Association of Law Schools' Section on Communication, Media & Information Law.

Previously in private practice at Beldock, Levine & Hoffman, LLP, Norins focused on issues of police misconduct and employment discrimination. She also served as an assistant attorney general for the State of New York, receiving the Louis J. Lefkowitz Award for outstanding performance. Immediately before joining the UGA Law School, Norins was the assistant director of the UGA Equal Opportunity Office.

Norins received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and clerked for the Honorable Michael H. Dolinger in the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Kenneth Edward Jarrard Related Seminars and Products

Jarrard & Davis LLP

Ken is a founding partner of Jarrard & Davis law firm in Cumming.  His firm specializes in local government representation, and is the retained counsel for the Counties of Barrow, Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth, Georgetown-Quitman, Greene, Newton, Screven, and Pickens, and the Cities of Alpharetta, Fayetteville, Milton, and Stone Mountain.  His firm also provides litigation and specialty services on a case-by-case basis to governments and authorities throughout the state. In addition to legal representation, Ken provides numerous training classes throughout the year for Georgia elected and appointed officials, including attorneys and judges, in all areas of local government law including ethics, open government, contracts, emergency management, civil rights, zoning, and governmental immunities. Ken received his Master of Public Administration and law degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Mr. Jeffrey Robert Filipovits Related Seminars and Products

Spears & Filipovits LLC

Jeff Filipovits has emerged as a distinguished lawyer specializing in police and government misconduct cases. With a stellar track record, Jeff has handled ten appellate oral arguments and four federal jury trials. Recognized for his strategic approach and attention to detail, and unwavering commitment to securing justice. Jeff's commitment to justice is not confined to the courtroom; he has actively contributed to legal education by sharing his insights and experiences at numerous seminars and classes. In 2020, Jeff formed Spears & Filipovits with his parter, longtime civil rights attorney Brian Spears. The firm specializes in federal civil rights litigation and often partners with other attorneys who recognize the specific expertise needed to litigate civil rights cases. Jeff is a 2009 graduate of GSU College of Law.