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REID COLLINS PARTNERS KEITH COHAN AND RYAN GOLDSTEIN RECEIVE EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD FROM TEXAS LAW FELLOWSHIPS

Keith Y. Cohan and Ryan M. Goldstein, partners in the Austin office of Reid Collins, were honored for their pro bono representation of Teliah Perkins in a federal civil rights action alongside the ACLU of Louisiana. Texas Law Fellowships’ annual Excellence in Public Interest Awards honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions in public interest law, including an award for private attorneys engaged in pro bono work.

Cohan and Goldstein received the Private Attorney award for prosecuting Ms. Perkins’ federal civil rights lawsuit against two St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who violently arrested her at her own home in Slidell, Louisiana in response to a minor traffic violation she did not commit. On July 26, 2022, Cohan and Goldstein obtained a key ruling on behalf of Ms. Perkins when the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the bulk of the officers’ motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. The defendants have appealed the summary judgment ruling, and oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is scheduled for May 3, 2023.

Click here to view the Perkins complaint.

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