Government Liability / Civil Rights

The firm’s Public Entity and Civil Rights Practice Group is led by Michael Jahner, April White, Robert Becker, and Sean Garrett, and has 75 years of collective experience defending the interests of private prison companies and public entities in federal and state courts all across New Mexico.

We have decades of experience successfully defending all manner of claims by county jail detainees and convicted state prisoners challenging the constitutionality of their conditions of confinement.  We also have decades of experience defending police and sheriff department personnel against federal and state claims arising from officers’ encounters with citizens, including claims challenging the legality of stops, detentions, arrests and uses of force.

Our public entity practice also includes defense of municipalities and counties in zoning and land use cases, and against tort actions brought by citizens who claim to have been injured as a result of negligence or other misconduct by public employees.