Andy Freeman

Represented three men known as the “Harlem Park Three.” At 108 combined years of wrongful incarceration, the triple exoneration of the men is the longest wrongful conviction case in American history. Case settled for a record $48 million (2023).

Obtained a $1.2 million judgment on behalf of a group of individuals against ex-NFL quarterback Michael Vick and his wife for failure to repay a loan (2022).

Part of team that obtained an injunction against the Baltimore County Council’s map that packed Black voters into one council district and “cracked” them among other districts in violation of the Voting Rights Act (2022).

Obtained $6.5 million for family of unarmed man shot eight times and killed by Baltimore County police officer after his mother called 911 to report that he was intoxicated and suicidal (2021).

Obtained nearly $8 million for two men who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned after plainclothes Baltimore Police Department officers (some of whom were later members of the Gun Trace Task Force) planted drugs in their car. Umar Burley and Brent Matthews v. Baltimore Police Department (2020).

Successfully represented a management services company in arbitration for breach of contract by a medical cannabis growing, processing, and retail business, with damages valued in excess of $25 million (2020).

Part of team that successfully blocked Trump administration’s “Separate-Billing Rule,” which would have required health insurers to issue separate bills—one for general health insurance and the other for insurance for abortion care—in an attempt to impose an unnecessary obstacle to access to abortions. Planned Parenthood of Maryland v. Azar (2020).

Successfully negotiated a settlement of $300,000 (policy limits) for a young man who was attacked and bitten repeatedly by an Akita dog when visiting the dog owner’s property (2019).

Obtained $1 million settlement on behalf of restaurant workers against the Mo’s Seafood chain for wage and hour violations (2018).

Successfully represented American Oversight, a watchdog group focused on the executive branch, to obtain the expedited unsealing of a confidential 1999 report on alleged improper leaks from the Office of Independent Counsel (Ken Starr’s investigation of President Clinton) (2018).

Part of team representing tenants in large Baltimore-area apartment complexes managed by Westminster Management (Jared Kushner’s family’s real estate company) in a lawsuit alleging inflated late fees charged in violation of state laws.

Obtained $9 million settlement on behalf of a man who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for 21 years after Baltimore homicide detectives concealed exculpatory evidence – James Owens v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (2018).

Obtained $1.9 million settlement on behalf of the parents of a young man with Down syndrome who was killed by deputy sheriffs who dragged him from a movie theater for the “crime” of wanting to watch a movie a second time without buying a second ticket (2018).

Successfully represented a group of ambulatory surgery centers in defending a $20 million lawsuit brought by a national insurance company alleging violations of RICO and ERISA, and in prosecuting a counterclaim for over $20 million owed for services provided to patients insured by that company (2017).

Won a substantial verdict and settlement on behalf of a man who was wrongfully arrested and assaulted in response to asking a Baltimore police officer for his badge number (2016).

Obtained $1.4 million settlement on behalf of a class of 2,500 students who were charged a new fee after already having registered for classes (2015).

Won an arbitration panel decision that the Army violated the Randolph-Sheppard Act by failing to apply the Act’s priority to a “Dining Facility Attendant” contract (2015).

Won an arbitration award of more than $250,000 on behalf of an African-American former Hooters server who was fired from her job because of Hooters’ racially discriminatory image policy (2015).

Obtained a settlement of over $1.5 million on behalf of a client who collided with the rear end of a truck that had a defectively-designed underride guard (2014).

After a government agency cancelled a software developer’s contract and refused to pay its bill of over $1 million, developed and executed a strategy that convinced the agency to pay the bill in full and cost the client less than $25,000 in fees (2013).

Won $3.9 million verdict for the family of a worker electrocuted when a crane operator used a crane too close to high-voltage power lines (2013).

Won summary judgment holding that the owners and operators of the ESPN Zone restaurant in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor violated the WARN Act when they closed the restaurant without providing the employees with the 60-day notice required by law and without paying them the full amount they would have earned had they received that notice – Gray v. The Walt Disney Company, 915 F. Supp. 2d 725 (D. Md. 2013).

Obtained a settlement that provides almost 4,400 vouchers and mobility counseling, worth over $1 billion, to enable poor African-American families to move from public housing and other segregated areas of Baltimore City to communities of opportunity throughout the Baltimore region for over 15 years (2012). Co-lead counsel for remedies phase of trial, settlement negotiations, and implementation (2006 to 2019).

Won $49 million in a class action against a university for breaching its promise to hold certain fees constant for the duration of students’ enrollment (judgment 2010; affirmed 2012). California Lawyer magazine recognized this win with a 2013 “California Lawyer of the Year” award.

Won Fourth Circuit reversal of district court’s refusal to award attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs who obtained nominal damages and repeal of regulation that unconstitutionally prohibited voter registration at transit stops; on remand, won award of $200,000 in attorneys’ fees – Project Vote v. Dickerson  2011 WL 3796157 (4th Cir. 2011); (fee award 2012).

Won defense verdict on behalf of former employee from whom Baltimore City sought the return of pay when she was erroneously credited for leave but had worked from home during that leave (2012).

Won $7 million verdict for 31-year-old roofer permanently disabled in a motor vehicle collision (2012).

Won $555,000 verdict on behalf of former pharmaceutical salesperson who was fired in violation of promise in employee handbook that employees would not be retaliated against for raising business practice issues in good faith – Scott v. Merck & Co., 2010 WL 4941994 (D. Md.).

Obtained $750,000 settlement for the wrongful death of an infant who died as a result of a day care center’s failure to use safe-sleep practices (2010).

Obtained $300,000 settlement for woman sexually harassed by her supervisor (2010).

Won $42 million in a class action on behalf of University of California students for tuition overcharges; judgment affirmed on appeal – Kashmiri v. Regents of the University of California, 156 Cal. App. 4th 809 (2007).

Represented group of investors in obtaining the return, with interest and attorneys’ fees, of their $1 million investment in a start-up company (2007).

Obtained settlement of over $2 million for child seriously injured in foster care (2007).

Obtained settlement of $825,000 for choking death of intellectually disabled resident of group home (2007).

Won verdict of $15 million on behalf of survivor of child sexual abuse (2004).

Lead counsel for blind vendors in cases that established that Randolph-Sheppard Act applies to military dining facilities – NISH v. Cohen, 247 F.3d 197 (4th Cir. 2001); NISH v. Rumsfeld, 348 F.3d 1263 (10th Cir. 2003).

Obtained dismissal of outside directors from suit for alleged securities fraud that ultimately settled for $7.5 million as to other defendants (2002).

Represented the plaintiff in the first case in the country filed against a handgun manufacturer for its failure to childproof its guns – Halliday v. Sturm, Ruger & Co., 368 Md. 186, 792 A.2d 1145 (2002).

Obtained settlements totaling over $200,000 for woman wrongfully fired following bilateral mastectomies (2002).

Won $1.5 million fee award for plaintiffs’ attorneys for their enforcement of partial consent decree desegregating Baltimore’s public housing – Thompson v. HUD, 2001 WL 1636517 (D. Md. 2001).

Won $1 million verdict in a counter-suit on behalf of a girl who was sexually abused by a lawyer, after the lawyer-abuser sued for defamation, a result that was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the “Top Defense Wins of 2000.”

Appointed by federal court to represent prisoners injured by second-hand tobacco smoke; case resulted in ban on cigarettes and other tobacco products in Maryland state prisons as well as compensation for clients – McIntyre v. Robinson, 126 F. Supp. 2d 394 (D. Md. 2000).

Won $7 million verdict in a case in which Maryland’s highest court established new law regarding a landlord’s responsibility to protect visitors from known dangerous animals – Matthews v. Amberwood Associates, 351 Md. 544, 719 A.2d 119 (1998).

Won verdict of over $200,000 on behalf of tenants evicted without notice following a tax sale of the home they rented; the case resulted in a new law requiring notification of tenants before tax sales and before eviction – Sallie v. Tax Sale Investors, Inc., 998 F. Supp. 612 (D. Md. 1998).

Obtained $900,000 settlement in a housing discrimination case in which a garden apartment development steered African-American tenants to rear units (1997).

Counsel for blind vendor in first case to apply the Randolph-Sheppard Act to the Department of Veterans Affairs – Minnesota v. Riley, 107 F.3d 648 (8th Cir. 1997).

Won verdict of over $800,000 and the renaming of a school in honor of the plaintiff, a former superintendent of schools, in an employment discrimination case (1996).

Won $2 million verdict for discriminatory advertising, a result that was recognized by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights with its “Outstanding Achievement Award in the Field of Fair Housing” for 1994.