New York City Mayor Eric Adams has hired Dechert LLP to help him quash a ban on solitary confinement practices at Rikers Island proposed by the city council.
Dechert is now co-counsel to the city’s corporation counsel team, according to a Wednesday court filing in the Southern District of New York. The team includes partners Andrew Levander, Jeffrey Brown, Steven Engel, and associates Nicholas Gersh and Harnelle St. Cloud.
Adams is asking the court to suspend the implementation of the ban until a federal monitor weighs in, according to the city’s letter addressed to Judge Laura Swain.
The legal additions bolster Adams’ tug-of-war over solitary confinement with the city council. The New York City Council voted to ban the practice in December 2023, which the mayor vetoed. The council overrode Adams’ veto in January.
Levander, a white-collar litigator, previously acted as the firm’s policy committee chair and was a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York’s securities fraud unit. Brown is co-chair of Dechert’s enforcement and investigations group. He spent almost a decade as a prosecutor at SDNY before joining the firm. Engel is chair of the firm’s appellate and regulatory litigation group.
Dechert is a global law firm with more than 950 lawyers, per their website. The firm’s clients have included Fox News Network, American conglomerate 3M Co., and Johnson & Johnson.
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