Daily Journal Names Simpson Thacher Pro Bono Matter a “Top Verdict of 2023”
02.22.24
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Simpson Thacher’s victory on behalf of a pro bono client—resulting in the largest jury verdict in history for mail withholding—has been named among the Daily Journal’s “Top Verdicts of 2023.” The Firm successfully proved that a prison worker violated our client’s constitutional rights by unlawfully withholding his mail for nearly nine months in 2007 and 2008. The jury awarded the client $475,000 for the violation of his civil rights, an award nearly 50 times larger than any previous award for withholding mail from a prisoner. Associate Pierce MacConaghy attributed the victory to the jury’s empathy for our client, who missed notices about deadlines to file appeals of his criminal conviction, as well as letters from home informing him that his father was dying, as a result of the mail withholding. “The jury just really connected with our client’s story, and in particular, his profound loss of hope and feelings of isolation when he lost all contact with the outside world because his mail was withheld for nearly nine months.”
The Simpson Thacher team on this matter included Retired Partner Buzz Frahn, Counsel Jonathan Sanders and Associates Pierce MacConaghy and Hilary Wong.
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