So who exactly are the plaintiffs’ lawyers fueling ADA litigation in web accessibility cases?
I created this chart showing lawyers who have filed lawsuits (including those who most frequently file), plaintiffs associated with the lawyer, and the federal court the lawyer usually files in. This data is all based on 2020 Q4 data we gathered at eSSENTIAL Accessibility so it provides the best preview for 2021.
Note: This doesn’t mean these are the most active plaintiffs’ law firms. Data is skewed because there are many law firms who are more focused on sending out demand letters (which do not become public record). Moreover, some law firms focus on filing on state court and this chart reflects federal data (Bloomberg’s database picks up far less state court lawsuits).
To illustrate, Pacific Trial Attorneys is very active in this space with many demand letters sent out with claims of a California Unruh Act violation but we didn’t see any federal court filings for Pacific Trial Attorneys in our Q4 research.
Federal Court Plaintiffs (Website and Mobile App Accessibility)
| Law Firm | Plaintiff 1 | Plaintiff 2 | Plaintiff 3 | U.S. District Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaked Law Group | Aretha Crosson | Linda Slade | Marion Kiler | Eastern District of New York |
| Stein Saks | Jenisa Angeles | Frankie Monegro | Southern District of New York | |
| Gottlieb & Associates | Emanuel Delacruz | Evelina Calcano | Cedric Bishop | Eastern District of New York |
| Cohen & Mizrahi LLP | Josue Romero | Shael Cruz | Christian Sanchez | Southern District of New York |
| Wilshire Law Firm | Julissa Cota | Valerie Brooks | Richard Paul Merrell | Southern District of California |
| Acacia Barros, P.A. | Aishia Petersen | Southern District of Florida Miami Division | ||
| Mars Khaimov Law | Josue Paguada | Jose Quezada | Dilenia Paguada | Southern District of New York |
| Law Office of Pelayo Duran | Nelson Fernandez | Victor Ariza | Daniel Moncada | Southern District of Florida |
| Lipsky Lowe | Brian Fischler | Kareem Nisbett | Eastern District of New York | |
| East End Trial Group | EU Directive | Blair Douglass | Western District of Pennsylvania | |
| Potter Handy | Chris Langer | Northern District of California | ||
| Shalom Law | Michelle Tenzer-Fuch | Eastern District of New York | ||
| Marcus & Zelman | Ramon Jaquez | Irene Hecht | Southern District of New York | |
| The Marks Law Firm | Luc Burbon | Eastern District of New York | ||
| Law Offices of Mitchell Segal | Jay Winegard | Southern District of New York | ||
| Lawrence H. Fisher | Anthony Hammond Murphy | Western District of Pennsylvania | ||
| Leal Law Firm | Andres Gomez | Southern District of Florida | ||
| Blaise & Nitschke | Israel Antonio | Northern District Illinois Eastern |
Wilshire Law Firm had more plaintiffs including Darren Gresham and Brett DeSalvo.
Gottlieb & Associates had more plaintiffs including Sandy Graciano, Donna Hedges, Henry Tucker, and Braulio Thorne.
Shaked Law Group had more plaintiffs including Pedro Martinez and Mary Conner.
Most Common Claims
So what are the key claims made by the most frequent filers?
I’ve linked to my quick profile write-ups of Wilshire (California) and Gottlieb (New York) above. I’ve also written on Cohen & Mizrahi LLP (New York), Mars Khaimov Law (New York), and Acacia Barros, P.A. (Florida).
Accessibility Services
Part of what I do at eSSENTIAL Accessibility is researching and analyzing legal data to best serve our clients. My name is Kris Rivenburgh. I’m an attorney and the Chief Accessibility & Legal Officer at eSSENTIAL.
What’s cool at eSSENTIAL is we provide all of the best practices for genuine accessibility and risk mitigation all in one service for one price (no fine print, no marketing or SEO, no upsells, etc.).
Here are the core services we offer:
- manual WCAG 2.1 AA audits
- user testing performed by people with disabilities
- unlimited tech support
- unlimited legal support
- conformance statement / certification
- accessibility policy creation
- automated scan
- assistive technology our clients can make available to their audience free
As it pertains to legal support, of course you will need to hire a defense attorney (or have your own counsel) but we’ll be there to support you if you need to respond to a demand letter and provide appropriate documentation.
As any attorney reading this knows, having that kind of documentation at a quick turnaround is invaluable.
Feel free to contact me at kris@accessible.org if I can help out with any services or answer any questions.