The Leading Law Firm In The Nation For ADA Legal Defense

ADA Defense Lawyers

, .Plaintiffs filing ADA lawsuits in California and New York include: As one of the largest, if not the largest, provider of Americans with Disabilities (ADA) defense services in the United States, the Karlin Law Firm only represents property owners and businesses. We have handled, consulted, and resolved over 4,000 ADA lawsuits. We do not represent, and have not represented, ADA plaintiffs. We defend all types of ADA claims in relation to Commercial, Industrial, Hotel, Apartments, and Businesses, including:

(a) Claims that the buildings, parking lots, and/or the inside of businesses are not ADA compliant,

(b)Claims that Websites are not accessible and violate the ADA, including claims regarding incorrect or no Website Accessibility Statement.

Review of website Accessibly tools, plug-in and widgets

(c) Claims that Mobile Apps are ADA non-compliant and not accessible,

(d)Claims that a Reasonable Accommodation was not made, or was not timely addressed, after a reasonable accommodation request was made to Apartment, Business owners and managers.

(e) ADA Defense Lawyers Unruh claims and violations including Prop 65 claims within Unruh.

(f) Business website claims including WCAG claims.

Recent News:

Karlin Law forces dismissals of two Andres Gomez ADA Lawsuits that were filed by two different ADA Plaintiff’s law firms, one of which was filed by the Potter Handy (Center for Disability Access) Law Firm.  Examples of Andres Gomez ADA Website Lawsuits and Lawsuit Claim threat letters filed or sent by the Potter Handy (Center for Disability Access) law firm are shown on our website here:

https://www.karlinlaw.com/andres-gomez-ada-website-lawsuits-claims/

Potter Handy “Center for Disability Access” named in lawsuit filed by the San Francisco District Attorney against Potter Handy LLP joined by the Los Angeles District Attorney. See here for more into: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2022/04/12/district-attorneys-boudin-gascon-ada-lawsuits/

See Lawsuit: https://sfdistrictattorney.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PEOPLE-V-POTTER-HANDY-LLP-ET-AL-complaint-and-Exhibits.pdf

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Beverly Hills attorney Kousha Berokim has been indicted for an alleged scheme demanding monetary settlements from San Francisco businesses and nonprofits to avoid Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuits.  Of note is that the Karlin Law Firm has handled over 100 claims made by Kousha Berokim under is own name as the attorney or using the name Canon Law.  The Karlin Law firm was successful in all 100 separate cases and our clients never paid Kousha Berokim, Canon Law or his client  any money.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin said among the grand jury charges Berokim faces were one for grand theft from an elder and 14 counts of grand theft by false pretense.

The charges culminated from a nine-month investigation.

Berokim allegedly sent 17 San Francisco businesses and nonprofit organizations emails and letters in which he purported to represent a blind Californian, threatening those businesses with federal ADA lawsuits for alleged website-accessibility violations if they did not enter into settlements and pay him sums of money to resolve the claims. It is alleged that these emails and letters were false because, as reflected in the federal courts’ public records, Berokim has never filed any such ADA cases and had no intent to file them.

For at least one business, Berokim’s client never visited the website in question. Fourteen of his alleged victims paid Berokim amounts of $950 or more, while the remaining three victims refused to pay him and were not sued.

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We help stop ADA Lawsuit Abuse, while at the same time assisting with ADA compliance to avoid future lawsuits.

ADA claims and lawsuits are very complex, and require the help of a law firm with vast experience in this field. Beware of false information on various internet sites. You may also need a referral to a knowledgeable ADA inspector (called a CASp), and in the case of parking lot or interior modifications, a referral to a knowledgeable contractor or paving company, or in ADA website cases, a web designer who can make your website more ADA compliant. Choosing the wrong team will often cost you 20 times more in the long run. Don’t be fooled by lawyers claiming they can defend these cases with little time and effort.

Our goal, and our only goal, is to Save Our Clients Money. Saving our clients money means, in part, assessing whether an ADA violation occurred, and if so, did the Plaintiff encounter and have some difficulty because of the alleged ADA violation, to achieving the lowest settlement when there is a violation that caused some difficulty. Because of our vast experience, we are uniquely able to draw from our database over 4,000 ADA cases that we have defended, resolved and consulted on to ascertain the lowest possible settlements that are likely to be obtained.

Saving our clients money means even more. It also means not expending unnecessary attorney time, not filing unnecessary Court documents, and not making unnecessary Court appearances. It also means not allowing the Plaintiff’s attorney to “build up” attorney fees by dragging the case out, then trying to bill you for their time (the ADA provides that the Defendant may have to pay the Plaintiff’s legal fees).

Saving our Clients money can also mean putting together the right team, often seeing far less expensive modifications where a problem is not readily achievable.  The right team can often come up with a $50 solution when others only see a $10,000 solution. Saving our Clients money also means revising settlement agreements, so they do not require the Client to modify more than what is legally required, and Saving the Client money means looking at ways to prevent a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lawsuit by other ADA plaintiffs looking for technical violations.

The Karlin Law Firm has developed ADA defense strategies designed to come to a quick and cost-effective resolution for our clients. If you have been served with an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit, filed in a California State Court or in United States Federal Court, or if you have received an ADA violation letter threatening an ADA lawsuit, you may be a victim of what is often an ADA extortion claim, or ADA fraud. If you want to resolve the ADA claim at the least expense, you should immediately contact one of the few law firms and lawyers experienced in the defense of ADA cases. Be sure to select a very knowledgeable law firm that has only one goal in mind – saving you money by using their vast experience and knowledge of ADA cases and the very complex ADA laws. Beware of attorneys claiming they can handle an ADA case for a small “flat fee.” All that means is they will likely not spend the time needed to see if a violation exists, the time to achieve a low settlement, the time to properly negotiate the right modification, the time to assist in keeping the cost down with alternate modifications, the time to refer work with the right inspector or designer, and the time to consult on how best to avoid future lawsuits.

Another new trend are ADA lawsuits focused on a business’s website, or a hotel’s website. and now we are seeing claims against owners of Mobile Applications – Apps. In our view, there is no legal basis for almost all of these ADA App claims and lawsuits. The law firm of Carlson Lynch of Pittsburg, PA, is one of the law firms making ADA App claims on behalf of Robert Jahoda and Eddie White though its lawyers and attorneys, R. Bruce Carlson, Kevin W. Tucker, Todd D. Carpenter and Eric Zard is also a member of their law firm. If you have received one of their claim letters, give us a call.

As more and more businesses fix their parking lots and make interior changes, Plaintiffs are now looking at the business and hotel websites. See the article on the side bar about this recent development. Some areas of concern are: The international website standards, World Wide Web Consortium, W3C, Version 2.0, Web Contact Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG, 2.0 guidelines, 3.1.1, 2.4.4, 3.1.2, Department of Justice, D.O.J., lack of guidelines, reasonable accommodation claims.  The DOJ has admitted there are other ways of making websites accessible, and the clear trend is to require a Nexus between a website and a physical location.

Hotel ADA website lawsuits focus of the lack of both the description of the accessible features of the hotel as well as accessible features of accessible hotel guest rooms.  See our article regarding the explosion of Hotel ADA Website Lawsuits.

Of note, a recent trend are ADA lawsuits filed against Apartment owners and other businesses for both access to the manager’s office and failure to enter into timely discussions regarding a request for a “Reasonable Accommodation”, to protect against these new types of ADA lawsuits Apartment Owners, Property Managers and other businesses should develop a policy and procedures manual as well as address access issues. We have developed these manuals for our clients.  The United African Asian Abilities Club is main filer of Apartment ADA lawsuits.

In looking for new ways to extort money from businesses, we are also seeing an increase in Service Dog, Service Animal, and Comfort Animal ADA claims. To protect themselves all businesses, not just Apartment Owners, Hotels, and Restaurants, should have a policies and procedures manual to comply with the law. We have developed these manuals for our clients and their businesses.

On April 7, 2021, the 11th Circuit finally issued it’s decision in the Gil vs. Winn-Dixie case, holding that websites generally do not need to comply with the ADA even if they have a nexus to a physical store.  There is now a clear split of authority among the Federal District Court of Appeals.  The text of the decision appears on our website here Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores.
 
Contact the Karlin Law Firm, to see how this decision might affect any claims being made against your website.

Law Firms and/or Attorneys filing ADA lawsuits in California include:

The Center for Disability Access, Disabled Advocacy Group, APLC, Ray Ballister Jr., aka Raymond Ballister, Jr., Mark Potter, Phyl Grace, Bryan Miller, Ross Cornell, Michael Taibi, Christopher Monge, Lynn Hubbard III, Scott Lynn J. Hubbard IV, Morse Mehrban, Thomas W. Gillen, Pamela Tsao, aka Pam Tsao, Ascension Law Group, Ted Shin, Dayton Magallanes, Moore Law Firm, Tanya Moore, aka Tanya E. Moore, Layne Hayden, Zachary M. Best, Chris C. Vaughan, Jason Yoon, Sung T. Kim, Daniel J. Williams, Richard A. Mac Bride, Joseph R. Manning Jr., Michael J. Manning, Craig Cote, Babak Hashemi, Jong Yun Kim, Peter Kristofer Strojnik,  David C. Wakefield, Scott J. Ferrell, Daniel Malakauskas, Kevin Hong, Dennis Price, Advanced Disability Advocates, So. Cal. Equal Access Group, John Y. Kim, and Ascension Law Group, Eric G. Calhoun (blind and visually impaired ADA lawsuits), Calhoun & Associates (blind and visually impaired ADA Lawsuits, Marty J. Nicholson (blind and visually impaired ADA Lawsuits), Azar Mouzari (blind and visually impaired ADA lawsuits). NYE, Stirling, Hale, Miller LLP, Jonathan D. Miller, Lawyers for ADA Rights, R. Alan Smith, Berokim Law, Joseph Bakhos, Morgan J. McGrath (website letters). Robert Abiri, Nathaniel Clark, Marianna Qustinovskaya with Custodio & Dubey Law Firm representing plaintiff, Jose Casillas. Dan Shaked represents Linda Slade and files in the Southern District of New York (Website lawsuits). Jacob Shahbaz (Website lawsuits).Attorney Robert Tauler with Tauler Smith LLP  representing plaintiff Drew Hunthausen sending website threat letters. Attorney  Sahira Shahbaz is another attorney sending threat letters to website owners. Prathima Reddy Price with The Reddy Law Firm LLC representing Plaintiff, Brian Whitaker. 

Plaintiffs filing ADA lawsuits in California and New York include:

.Approximately Ordered by Last Name:

A: African-Asian Abilites Club, aka African Asian Abilites Club, aka United African-Asian Abilities Club, aka United African Asian Abilities Club, Lore Ameloot

B: Theresa Brooke, Poupak Barekat (website Hotel ADA lawsuits), Hendrick Block, Valerie Brooks, Mister Bailey, Andrew Baracco, Sheila Biglang – Awa Castro, Anthony Bouyer, Garnik Blkhoyan, Nazik Blkhoyan, Colton Bryant, Sam Benford, Colton Bryant, Michelle Bartick

C: Gabriela Cabrera, Rory Chavez, Kyo Chu, Rebecca Castillo, Jennifer Carbine, Ronald Chism, Jose Casillas, Robert Cauley, Daniel Cervantes, Susan Competello (NY – website lawsuits)

D: Jessie James Davis IV, Roy Davis-Gash, Brett Deslavo (website ADA lawsuits), Louis Do (website ADA lawsuits), Gabriel Dorsey, Larry Dunn,

E: Jose Escobedo, Jose Estrada

F: James Farr (website ADA lawsuits), Kimberly Frazier, Jeff Fitzpatrick

G: Orlando Garcia, Andres Gomez, Julianna Garcia, Darren Gilbert

H: Abacus Heras (website Hotel ADA lawsuits), John Ho, David Hester, Michael Hanson, Jeremy Holland, Abacuc Heras, Joshua Hartley, Drew Hunthausen, Pamela Hill, John Paul Hutchins, Teresa Hicks, Calos Herrera

I-J: Jerry Jackson, Scott Johnson, Jeff Jinkins, Flor Jimenez, George Jones

K-L: Nehemiah Kong, Chris Langer, Richard Q. Le, Shirley Lindsay, Hoang Minh Le, Jin Lee, Xandra Kahre, Aderiyike Lawal

M: Perla Mageno (website ADA lawsuits), Robert Aaron McKissick, Traci Morgan, Portia Mason

N – O: Edmond Neal, Brenda Ordaz, Amber Ortiz, Vanessa Orellena

P: Young Hee Park, Jose Perez, Carmen John Perri,  Meryl Pomponio, Suzanne Na Pier, Hee Soon Park

Q: Viridiana Quevedo

R: Kayla Reed (Hotel Website ADA lawsuits), James Rutherford, Roy Rios (website lawsuits) Mary Rios, Michael Rhambo, Rusty Rendon (website ADA lawsuits), Kayla Ryan, Estela J. Ramos, Deondre Raglin, Crystal Redrick

S: Richard Sepulveda, Christopher Soldan, James Shayler, Vivian Salazar, Peter Strojnik

T: Jose Trujillo, Po Tang, Quy Truong

U: United African-Asian Abilities Club, aka United African Asian Abilities Club.

V: Jose Velez (aka Jose Colon, Jose Velez-Colon, Jose Carlos Velez Colon),  Tito Vasquez, Viridiana Quevedo,

W: John Weekley, Brian Whitaker,, Anna Marie Wiggens, Bryan Williams, Leemanuel Weilch, Robert Wendt, Andrew Wilkins

Z: James Zarian, Samuel Zarian, Luz Zendejas

If your real estate or business has become the subject of an ADA lawsuit, or an ADA SB 1608 or Unruh Act or Unruh Civil Rights Act Lawsuit, contact an experienced ADA real estate attorney as soon as possible in order to understand your rights and your legal options. When it comes to litigation, there is no substitute for an experienced ADA real estate lawyer who understands the needs and concerns of owners and commercial property managers in the defense of ADA lawsuits.

These California ADA Lawsuits are often filed as a Federal ADA Lawsuit in the United States District Court (U.S. District Court) for the Central District, Southern, Northern, and Eastern District, these U.S. District Courts are Located in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento and other California Cities.

The first step in reducing unnecessary expenses is acknowledging them as they arise, and taking the appropriate measures to address them. Our Law Firm understands ADA Compliance, Unruh Act Violation Litigation, and changes in California Law involving commercial real estate access issues. We understand how to minimize attorney’s fees and costs in defending against ADA lawsuits in California, as well as, defending against frivolous lawsuits, in general.

In addition to issues with these lawsuits, Landlord and Tenants need to address ADA issues in negotiating their Commercial Leases, particularly in light of such new law’s as California’s AB 2093 and California Civil Code 1938 discussed in the side bar page tab: AB 2093 and Civil Code 1938.  See also articles on the right side, follow House of Representatives, HR 620 requiring pre-notice and a right to fix before anyone can file an ADA case.

By way of background, under the new California ADA laws, and the United States Federal District Courts which follow California Law regarding ADA penalties, you may be able to reduce any damages or penalties by as much as 50% if you qualify as a small business and if certain modifications to your property are completed within 30 days of being served with an ADA lawsuit. Modifications, in most cases, can be inexpensive, and may include but are not limited to, adding signs, re-striping areas in the parking lot, or adding handicapped parking. If you have been, or you think you might be served with a California ADA lawsuit, you should contact an ADA attorney as soon as possible. If you are attempting to do any modifications, you should consult with a top-quality paving or striping company for guidance.

ADA lawsuits in California have increased rapidly. Since 2005, across the United States, more than 18,000 lawsuits claiming violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act were filed, with California in the lead. Owners of properties and businesses feel they are being extorted by people bringing these ADA claims. One reason is that California is one of the few states that impose an automatic penalty on owners and businesses and make owners and businesses pay Plaintiff’s attorney’s fees should the Plaintiff prevail on any of his or her claims.

Some additional ADA lawyers and ADA attorneys filing ADA lawsuits not listed above include Brian Andrews, some additional plaintiffs include Adam Ghadiri filing ADA lawsuits in pro per, also know as pro se, and may sometime use an ADA lawyer. Also new are shake down letters with ADA website Federal lawsuit drafts being sent by Legal Justice Advocates of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with attorneys Avery Fenton, Shakhar Vyas, and Emerson Primental attempting to shake down businesses and small and large hotels. These ADA website claims are made on behalf of blind and visually impaired persons. Some ADA website now include Raymond Douglas Hennagir, Alberto Hernandez, and Jack Kang.

The California ADA laws and the Federal United States American with Disabilities Act are one-sided. If the owner prevails, a Plaintiff does not usually have to pay the owner’s attorney’s fees, but if the Plaintiff prevails, the owner will likely have to pay the Plaintiff’s attorney’s fees. This is a main reason that property owners feel they are a victim of ADA extortion. It is imperative that California real estate owners, commercial property tenants, and management companies of commercial real estate retain experienced ADA defense law firms immediately after being served.

Recent changes in California law were passed with the intention of insulating certain commercial real estate and business owners from undue liability, but the situation appears to be no better than before, and in fact, it appears that the number of ADA lawsuits being filed have increased.

California SB 1186 was enacted, in part, through changes in the California Civil Code. The idea was to provide protection to owners and operators of public accommodations. The changes were to include: A provision allowing defendants to request a stay of court proceedings pending settlement discussions (early evaluation); reduction of the minimum statutory damages (in certain circumstances); allowing a court to consider the reasonableness of a plaintiff’s “stacked claims” – numerous claims for the same property; a ban on pre-litigation demand letters; requirement for written advisories to defendants.

Despite the intentions of the law, it appears to our firm that the changes have resulted in an increase, not a decrease, in ADA lawsuits. Delayed demand letters, for example, may have forced law firms to file lawsuits instead of working with owners to fix the problem. The new law did not include a correction period where an owner could fix the ADA violation without facing an automatic penalty.

Abusive ADA Lawsuit, sometimes referred to as Drive-by Lawsuits have be recently discussed in 60 minutes by Anderson Cooper in the December 3, 2016 episode. Here’s a link: 60 Minutes – Abusive Drive-By Lawsuits.

Here’s a news report on ADA Fraud and Extortion, including a report regarding a suspect named Rodolfo DeHoyos ( De Hoyos ) in Tustin County who was arrested by Police: ADA Fraud and Extortion Reported.

ADA website Claims are increasing, some just start off with letters, such as the demand letters sent by the Legal Justice Advocates of Florida, or their lawyers Avery Fenton, Shakhar Vyas, or Emerson Primental, others are sent by the Berokim Law Firm in Los Angeles, or by Scott Ferrell, calling himself the Pacific Trial Attorneys.  There is also the Manning Law Firm, headed by Joe Manning, aka Joseph Manning, who argued the Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza case on behalf of the Plaintiff.  New ADA website Plaintiffs now include Raymond Douglas Hennagir, Alberto Hernandez, Jack Kang, Po Tang, Sheila Biglang-Awa aka Sheila Biglang Awa in addition to the Plaintiffs listed above.

As of recently, Olga Nazimova has been targeting websites using visually impaired plaintiffs, Edward Davis & Ronald Chism. Another Attorney sending out demand letters on websites is R. Stephen Hall representing client: Pursuit of Respect, Inc. Another law firm is Fidelity Law, APC making FHA and ADA website claims with Attorney Brian R. Linnekens representing client Santiago Hernandez.

Of note also are the tactics of Hakimi & Shahriari, located on Hollywood Blvd., in Los Angeles.  The main attorneys of that firm are Anoush Hakimi and Peter Shahriari.  We have many cases against this firm and in our view, you will need an ADA law firm with extensive experience and a willingness to push back any time a law firm presents any over-the-top outrageous ADA lawsuit settlement demand.

Also, of note is the Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza case.  On Oct. 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the case, leaving stand the 9th circuit allowing lawsuits that allege a website may need to do “something” to make the site more accessible to the blind and visually impaired.  What that something is, the Court did not describe.  As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza case, we expect ADA website lawsuits, and the threat thereof, to substantially increase, and will have a major impact an small and tiny businesses, not just large businesses.  Lack of ADA website standards will not stop law firms from proceeding with these ADA website lawsuits and claims, including the Manning Law Firm, headed by Joseph (“Joe”) Manning, the Pacific Trial Lawyers, headed by Scott Ferrell.

We are the top ADA website defense lawyers and can help defend and avoid such ADA website lawsuits and claims, working with you and webmaster to help avoid such ADA website lawsuits. One source of information is WCAG, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the 2.0 guidelines (which may not be considered standards).

AccessiBe.com

Accessible, Userway and other ADA website programs reviews. 

When there is ADA lawsuit insurance coverage we work with most insurance companies providing ADA lawsuit protection to obtain as quick and inexpensive resolution when this can be obtained, often under a EPL or EPLI insurance policy.

Call or email us today to help defend your rights.

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