Human Rights

Human Rights

Human rights are in the DNA of Hausfeld. Our commitment to pursue justice and fairness informs how we practice law and how we vindicate the rights of our clients around the world - from antitrust to antiracism.

For decades, Hausfeld lawyers have pioneered the field of human rights litigation, standing up to authoritarian regimes and powerful corporations on behalf of victims of genocide, terrorism, trafficking, torture, censorship, systemic racism, and plundered art works and assets.

As a global firm, we are uniquely positioned to litigate complex cross-border cases under domestic and international law. Hausfeld lawyers have tackled some of the world’s most challenging issues, from exposing the nexus of money laundering and mass atrocities, to defending media freedom in an age of disinformation, supporting whistleblowers, and confronting emerging online threats to human rights. We empower survivors of abuses to seek justice—whether in court, Congress, or the United Nations.

Hausfeld lawyers have led some of the most prominent human rights cases. For example:

  • When Holocaust victims discovered that Swiss banks were still holding Nazi-looted artworks and assets, founding Chair Michael Hausfeld led a class action that resulted in the recovery of $1.25 billion for victims of slave labor and expropriation.
  • When Marie Colvin, an acclaimed war correspondent for The Sunday Times, was killed in Syria, Of Counsel Scott Gilmore led a cutting-edge international investigation and lawsuit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, securing the first-ever war crimes judgment against the Syrian government and over $300 million in damages.
  • When Diane Foley, mother of slain American hostage James Foley, could not get justice for her son, Hausfeld lawyers advocated with the U.S. Attorney General, Congress, and the UK government to secure the extradition and prosecution of suspected ISIS terrorists, while opposing the death penalty and upholding due process.
  • Acting for 16 youth petitioners led by teenage activist Greta Thunberg in a groundbreaking climate change complaint filed at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
  • Co-lead Counsel for a class of Sudanese refugees in the US who were victims of murder, rape, and torture by their own government’s atrocities - funded and sustained by BNP Paribas’s sanctions-evasion scheme.

For our additional Human Rights expertise in:

Belgium
France
Germany
Sweden
The Netherlands
United Kingdom

Honored as a finalist in the category of Innovation in Social Responsibility, for the firm's work in the Silicosis matter on behalf of South African gold miners.

The FT Innovative Lawyer Awards North America

Hausfeld was selected by Global Law Experts as the 2019 International Human Rights Law Firm of the Year in Washington D.C.

Global Law Experts, 2019