Litigation Under 42 USC Section 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. 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.

Mr. Naveen Ramachandrappa Related Seminars and Products

Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP

Naveen’s practice focuses on Appeals, Class Actions, and other Complex Litigation.

As one of the leading appellate attorneys in Georgia, Naveen has been sought out by attorneys and clients, both defendants and plaintiffs, to assist trial lawyers with preservation and legal strategy during trial, and to serve as lead counsel for appeals and certiorari proceedings.

As a result, Naveen regularly appears and gives oral argument before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the Georgia Court of Appeals – as well as assisting in jury trials across Georgia.

In addition, Naveen maintains an active class action practice and has been appointed as class counsel by courts in the Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Florida, Western District of Tennessee, and Georgia state courts.

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. 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.

Mr. Brian Richard Dempsey Related Seminars and Products

Gwinnett County Department of Law

Brian Dempsey serves in the Gwinnett County Law Department as a Deputy County Attorney. Dempsey leads the public safety team, which provides representation to the Police Department, Fire Department, Risk Division, Corrections Department, and Sheriff's Office of Gwinnett County.

Since his graduation from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1997, Dempsey has represented local government entities throughout Georgia. Although the defense of law enforcement has been an emphasis of his practice, Dempsey has also litigated numerous property taxation, employment, and general liability matters.

Before joining the Gwinnett County Law Department in 2024, Dempsey was a partner at Carothers & Mitchell, LLC in Buford and Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP in Atlanta.

Mr. Miguel Angel Dominguez Related Seminars and Products

Dominguez Law Firm

Mr. Dominguez is the Managing Partner, a trial attorney and trial consultant with the Dominguez Law Firm where he specializes in jury trials for clients that have been catastrophically injured. Prior to opening up the Dominguez Law Firm he was a partner and trial attorney at the largest Plaintiff’s firm in the Country, Morgan & Morgan. However, he began his legal career as a criminal defense attorney, before leaving his practice to become a prosecutor. As a prosecutor, he acquired significant jury trial experience. In his role as an assistant district attorney, he acquired a reputation for being a conscientious prosecutor, discerning in creating opportunities for those in need of a second chance. He is now a Plaintiff’s attorney, specializing in personal injury, wrongful death, negligent security and civil rights cases. Miguel is most passionate about his work fighting on behalf of the victims of police brutality and violent crime and clients who have been seriously injured or killed in crime ridden neighborhoods, while apartment complex and motel owners profit.
 

Mr. Dominguez has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyer, Georgia Trend Magazine’s 40 under 40 Best and Brightest, National Bar Association’s 40 under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates, DeKalb Lawyers Association’s Legal Warriors, Latino Leaders Magazine’s Top Latino Lawyers in the Country, National Trial Lawyers’ Top Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Georgia, and a Plaintiff’s Lawyer Trailblazer by The American Lawyer Magazine. Miguel also serves as a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors.

Mr. Ralph S. Goldberg Related Seminars and Products

Goldberg & Cuvillier PC

Mr. Thomas Monroe Mitchell Related Seminars and Products

Carothers & Mitchell, LLC

Thomas M. Mitchell is a partner of the law firm of Carothers & Mitchell, LLC, located in Buford. He serves as city attorney for Demorest and Hiawassee, while his firm represents several other cities. Mr. Mitchell represents various counties in the areas of civil rights, land use, eminent domain and nuisance. His litigation practice includes representation of numerous cities and counties, as well as several small businesses and individuals. Mr. Mitchell also represents clients with regard to real estate, zoning and permitting, access and boundary disputes, construction, and foreclosure. Another significant part of his practice is representing law enforcement officers and agencies in Section 1983. Mr. Mitchell earned his undergraduate degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia Law School.