Cadwalader Named Advocate Law Firm of the Year by American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

posted on: Jun 4, 2013

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, a leading counselor to global financial institutions and corporations, announced today that it will receive the Advocate Law Firm of the Year Award from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). The award will be presented during the civil rights lunch at the ADC’s annual convention on June 14 in Washington, D.C.

On April 10, Samer Korkor and Colleen Kukowski, associates in Cadwalader’s Washington, D.C., office and supervised by partner David Williams, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the ADC with the United States Supreme Court in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. At issue in the case is whether a Title VII plaintiff alleging retaliation must show that retaliation was the “but for” cause of his termination rather than one of several “motivating factors.”

The amicus brief argued that the plaintiff, Dr. Naiel Nassar, an American Arab Muslim of Egyptian descent, was illegally and discriminatorily retaliated against after he submitted a resignation letter in which he complained about his supervisor’s discriminatory conduct. Dr. Nassar received favorable results at both the trial and appellate levels. The amicus brief argued that the Supreme Court should uphold the Fifth Circuit’s decision that applied the “mixed-motive” causation standard to the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII. The Court’s decision is expected to establish what a plaintiff must prove in order to successfully state an employment retaliation claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Several organizations joined the amicus brief to display their support, including the Arab American Institute (AAI), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim Advocates, and the Sikh Coalition.

Founded in 1980, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is the largest Arab American grassroots organization committed to protecting civil rights, promoting mutual understanding, and preserving cultural heritage.

About Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, established in 1792, serves a diverse client base, including many of the world’s leading financial institutions and corporations in more than 50 countries. With offices in New York, London, Charlotte, Washington, Houston, Beijing, Hong Kong and Brussels, Cadwalader offers legal expertise in antitrust, banking, business fraud, corporate finance, corporate governance, energy, environmental, financial restructuring, health care, intellectual property, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, private wealth, real estate, regulation, securitization, structured finance and tax. For more information, visit www.cadwalader.com.