• Nick Hillary is now being represented by two of New York States best criminal defense lawyers, Earl Ward & Norm Siegel.
Source: North Country Public Radio Phillips murder trial rescheduled again; Hillary retools defense team
• Earl Ward is one of New York’s preeminent and most successful trial lawyers, Earl S. Ward has thirty years of experience as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney. Mr. Ward began his career with the criminal defense division of the Legal Aid Society. Thereafter, he worked as a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), where he handled police abuse and First Amendment litigation. Prior to entering private practice in 1996, he was a supervising attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem.
Notable Cases:
• People v. Donna Cobb – Acquittal of Murder for a battered woman charged with killing her husband.
• People v. Damon Williams – Acquittal of Murder for man charged with double homicide.
• People v. Paven Ortiz – Acquittal of Murder for man charged in murder for hire scheme.
• People v. Ronald Ballard – Acquittal of Murder for man charged with conspiring and participating in murder.
• People v. Greg Brooks – Acquittal of Murder for teenager charged with murder.
• People v. Ronald Davis – Acquittal of Murder for young man charged with killing a neighborhood bully.
• Brian McNamee v. Roger Clemens – Represents Brian McNamee in connection with the Roger Clemens/steroid controversy.
• People v. Joan Weil etc. – Represented with civil rights attorney Norman Siegel eighteen grandmothers who were arrested, tried, and acquitted for protesting against the war in Iraq.
• Weizmann v. County of Suffolk, et al. – Obtained a jury award of nearly a half million dollars on behalf of a New York City man who was assaulted and subjected to anti-Semitic taunts by Suffolk County police officers.
• Black Radio Network v. City of New York – Represents Black Radio Network in federal court in a First Amendment lawsuit against the New York City Police Department for denial of press credentials.
• Secured a $6.7 million settlement for the widow of Israel Vasquez, who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for more than 12 years for a 1995 homicide he did not commit. Vasquez v. City of New York, et al., Index No. 10 Civ. 6277 (S.D.N.Y.); Vasquez v. The State of New York, Claim No. 117272 (Ct. of Claims).
Source: Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP Website
• Norm Siegel is a civil rights and civil liberties lawyer.
In 1968, Norman accepted a position with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Southern Justice and Voting Law Project. He worked on cases challenging the systemic exclusion of African Americans and women from jury pools in counties throughout South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Alabama and voting rights cases It was this immersion in civil rights and civil liberties that helped forge Norman’s abiding commitment to insure the rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution extend to all Americans, regardless of race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender.
In 1985, the New York Civil Liberties Union named Norman Siegel Executive Director. For the next 15 years, Norman was on the frontline in some of New York City’s most critical civil rights and civil liberties struggles; the creation of an independent Civilian Complaint Review Board; the successful defense of the Brooklyn Museum’s right to exhibit controversial art; the fight for citizens’ access to the steps of City Hall; the battle against involuntary hospitalization of people with mental illness; the struggle for improved community-police relations and greater accountability on the part of the NYPD.
In private practice since 2002, Norman’s work in civil rights and civil liberties law continues. He has represented the Williamsburg 7, Brooklyn activists arrested when protesting the closing of their local firehouse; the Nyack 10, filing a suit for the right to obtain marriage licenses for same sex couples; and Tuck-It-Away, Inc. in its fight against the use of eminent domain in Columbia University’s expansion plan.
Source: Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans, LLP Website