Richard Emery: Biography, Career, Cases, and Civil Rights Work

For decades, Richard D. Emery has built a legal career around cases involving civil rights, government accountability, elections, and challenges to institutional power. As a founding partner of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, he has handled major litigation in New York and beyond, including cases reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

Known for taking on difficult disputes involving government agencies and powerful institutions, Emery has worked across several areas of public-interest law. His career has also included government reform and judicial oversight roles, most notably his tenure as chair of New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board.

This overview looks at Richard Emery’s background, legal career, notable cases, public service, and the broader role he has played in New York civil rights law.

Who Is Richard Emery?

Richard D. Emery is an American attorney whose practice has focused on civil rights, commercial litigation, election law, and challenges to governmental action. He is a founding partner of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, a New York litigation firm known particularly for civil rights and public-interest cases.

Emery’s legal work has covered a wide range of disputes, from police and prison misconduct to voting rights, wrongful convictions, election disputes, and government accountability. His firm describes him as a national litigator who has handled matters in federal and state trial and appellate courts as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court.

His career is notable not simply for the number of cases he has handled, but for the recurring theme behind them: using litigation to challenge government action and protect individual rights.

Richard Emery’s Education and Early Legal Career

Emery graduated from Brown University in 1967 and received his J.D., cum laude, from Columbia Law School in 1970. He was also named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar while at Columbia. After law school, he served as a law clerk to federal judge Gus J. Solomon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

His early professional work established the public-interest direction that would become a defining part of his career. He directed the Institutional Legal Services Project in Washington state, an organization that represented people held in prisons, mental-health facilities, and juvenile institutions.

Emery later moved to New York and joined the New York Civil Liberties Union as a staff attorney. He remained there for roughly a decade, working on civil-liberties matters before moving into private practice.

That combination of institutional experience and civil-liberties advocacy helped shape the approach that would characterize his later litigation: challenging government practices through constitutional and civil-rights law.

Building a Career in Civil Rights Litigation

After leaving the New York Civil Liberties Union, Emery became associated with Lankenau, Kovner & Bickford, where he handled civil and civil-rights litigation. His practice increasingly involved cases against government agencies and disputes over constitutional rights.

One of his best-known cases involved the structure of New York City’s Board of Estimate. Emery challenged the system under the constitutional principle of one person, one vote. He argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously invalidated the Board’s structure on constitutional grounds. The decision became an important milestone in New York City government and voting-rights litigation.

His work also expanded into election law. Over the years, Emery represented clients in disputes involving ballot access and political campaigns, demonstrating that his practice was broader than traditional civil-rights litigation.

In 1997, he founded what became Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. The firm developed into a prominent litigation boutique handling civil rights, commercial disputes, criminal defense, ethics matters, and other complex cases.

Notable Cases and Legal Issues

Richard Emery‘s career includes several high-profile cases involving constitutional rights and government conduct.

A major example is the Board of Estimate litigation, which challenged unequal representation in New York City’s governmental structure. The Supreme Court’s ruling established that the city’s system violated the one-person, one-vote principle.

Another significant area of Emery’s work involved police and detention practices. His firm represented a large class of people challenging New York City’s pre-arraignment strip-search policy. The litigation resulted in a $50 million settlement involving approximately 62,000 people, according to the firm.

Emery has also represented individuals in wrongful-conviction and wrongful-prosecution matters. His broader litigation record has included cases involving alleged police misconduct, election disputes, government accountability, and civil-rights claims.

These cases illustrate a consistent feature of his career: litigation has been used not only to resolve disputes for individual clients but also, in some circumstances, to challenge policies affecting large groups of people.

Richard Emery and the Civilian Complaint Review Board

In 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Emery chairman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, commonly known as the CCRB. The agency investigates complaints alleging misconduct by members of the New York Police Department.

The appointment was notable because Emery had spent much of his career representing people who challenged government agencies and alleged police misconduct. His background gave him extensive experience with the kinds of civil-rights issues that the board was responsible for reviewing.

During his time as chairman, the board pursued investigations involving allegations such as improper searches, false statements, and the use of prohibited force. Contemporary reporting described Emery as seeking to increase public confidence in the agency while maintaining fair treatment for police officers.

Emery resigned from the CCRB in April 2016 following controversy surrounding his leadership and comments about police unions and allegations made by agency employees. His departure ended a relatively short but closely watched period in which a prominent civil-rights lawyer led New York City’s civilian police oversight agency.

Public Service, Government Reform, and Writing

Emery’s career has extended beyond courtroom litigation. He has participated in government reform and judicial oversight efforts at the state level.

He served on former Governor Mario Cuomo’s State Commission on Government Integrity in the late 1980s. He later took part in Governor Eliot Spitzer’s transition work on government reform and served on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

His interest in government accountability has also continued through writing and public commentary. Emery has written about judicial conduct, police accountability, civil forfeiture, constitutional issues, and other legal and public-policy questions. He has also taught law as an adjunct professor at institutions including New York University, the University of Washington, Fordham University, and Cardozo School of Law, according to biographical sources.

More recently, his professional work has continued to include civil rights, election law, commercial litigation, and challenges to governmental action. His law firm’s current profile identifies him as a founding partner whose practice encompasses these areas.

What Richard Emery’s Career Says About Civil Rights Law

Richard Emery’s career offers a useful example of how civil-rights law can operate at several levels. A lawyer may represent one individual, challenge a government policy affecting thousands of people, argue a constitutional question before the Supreme Court, or participate directly in public oversight.

His work has repeatedly crossed those boundaries. Early public-interest legal work exposed him to the problems faced by people in institutional settings. His years with the New York Civil Liberties Union developed that focus further. Private practice then gave him the opportunity to bring constitutional and civil-rights claims in major litigation, while his government appointments placed him inside institutions responsible for accountability and oversight.

That combination is central to understanding Richard Emery’s professional reputation. Rather than being associated with a single type of lawsuit, he has developed a broad practice centered on disputes involving rights, government power, elections, and institutional accountability.

Conclusion

Richard Emery’s career spans public-interest advocacy, major civil-rights litigation, government reform, judicial oversight, and legal education. From his early work representing people in institutional facilities to his years with the New York Civil Liberties Union and later work as a founding partner of a prominent New York litigation firm, civil rights have remained a recurring theme.

His involvement in the New York City Board of Estimate case, police-misconduct litigation, election disputes, and civilian police oversight illustrates the range of issues he has addressed. His public-service roles also show that his interest in government accountability has extended beyond private litigation.

For anyone researching Richard Emery, the clearest way to understand his career is to look at that common thread: a long-standing focus on the relationship between individual rights, government authority, and the courts.

FAQs

Who is Richard D. Emery?

Richard D. Emery is a New York attorney and founding partner of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. His practice includes civil rights, election law, commercial litigation, and challenges to governmental action.

What is Richard Emery known for?

He is particularly known for civil-rights litigation, including a successful constitutional challenge to the structure of New York City’s Board of Estimate and litigation involving alleged police and detention misconduct.

Where did Richard Emery study law?

Emery earned his J.D., cum laude, from Columbia Law School in 1970 after graduating from Brown University in 1967.

Did Richard Emery work for the New York Civil Liberties Union?

Yes. After earlier public-interest legal work in Washington state, Emery became a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he worked from 1977 to 1987.

Was Richard Emery chairman of the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board?

Yes. Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Emery chairman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 2014. Emery resigned from the position in April 2016.

What law firm did Richard Emery help establish?

Emery was a founding partner of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, a New York litigation firm whose practice includes civil rights, commercial litigation, criminal defense, ethics, and related matters.

Does Richard Emery still practice law?

His firm’s current profile lists Richard D. Emery as a partner and describes his practice as including commercial litigation, civil rights, election law, and litigation challenging governmental actions.