March 7, 2022
On March 4, 2022, Schlam Stone & Dolan attorneys Richard H. Dolan and Thomas A. Kissane, together with former New York Court of Appeals Judge Robert S. Smith, obtained the reversal of a district court order that had denied intervention to the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York (the “PBA”). In order to represent the interests of its members, the PBA moved to appear as a party in several lawsuits that sought changes to the City’s policing practices based on alleged misconduct during the summer 2020 rioting that followed the death of George Floyd. The Second Circuit’s decision, Payne v. de Blasio, 21-116 (2d Cir. March 4, 2022), overruled the district court to find that the PBA had a sufficient interest in the safety of its members, and that it wasn’t clear that the named defendants would represent that interest.
This is a great result for Schlam Stone & Dolan, for the PBA and its member-officers, and for the principle that everyone should have a right to be present when their important rights are being decided.