Brown, Goldstein & Levy partner Neel K. Lalchandani was quoted in a recent HuffPost article discussing a landmark federal court victory protecting opportunities for blind entrepreneurs under the Randolph-Sheppard Act. The article, now titled “Judge Rules Trump Admin Broke Law By Undermining Program For The Blind,” originally appeared under a headline the BGL team admittedly preferred: “Trump Administration Broke the Law When They Tried to Screw Over Blind People, Judge Rules.”
In Taylor v. U.S. Department of Education, Neel, along with BGL partners Joshua N. Auerbach and Andrew D. Freeman, represented four blind vendors, the National Association of Blind Merchants, and the National Federation of the Blind in challenging the Department of Education’s unprecedented decision to waive the Randolph-Sheppard Act’s priority for blind vendors at U.S. Army dining facilities nationwide.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted summary judgement to the plaintiffs on August 1, 2026, vacating the Department’s decision and preserving the priority Congress established for blind vendors.
HuffPost spoke with Neel about the significance of the ruling and the fight to protect the rights and economic opportunities Congress promised blind entrepreneurs.
Neel noted that the law allows for implementing certain limits, like where and when a vending facility operates. But what McMahon pursued was “a sweeping waiver of the act at every Army dining facility nationwide.”
“Those are two very different things,” said Neel to HuffPost. “Our contention all along was that the act doesn’t supply the secretary with that authority.”
Read the full HuffPost article here.
Read more about the victory here.
ABOUT NEEL K. LALCHANDANI
Neel Lalchandani represents individuals, nonprofits, and companies in a diverse array of civil rights and commercial matters. Among other victories for his clients, Neel has helped secure several of the largest payments in Maryland history for victims of police misconduct, including more than $80 million for innocent men imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. He has won major victories for blind vendors and state licensing agencies in federal court and in Randolph-Sheppard arbitrations related to military dining contracts. Learn more about Neel here.
ABOUT BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY, LLP
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, criminal defense, and appellate advocacy. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.
PLEASE FIND ADDITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE BELOW
Blind contractors win lawsuit against Trump administration in MD court | The Daily Record (August 7, 2026)