National Review Publishes Editorial in Support of NRA’s Legal Advocacy

On January 8, 2020, the National Review published an editorial by legal writer Walter Olson that supports the legal advocacy of the firm and its client, the National Rifle Association.  

In the editorial, “Progressive Governments’ Economic War on the NRA Fails in Court,” Olson addresses efforts by government officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York to "take down the hated National Rifle Association by targeting its pocketbook."

Olson observes that San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York are "facing a legal reckoning in court, based not on the Second Amendment but on the First. Without needing to even consider the issue of gun rights, federal courts are recognizing that boycotts enforced by government power can menace free speech and free association."

Olson places particular emphasis on the NRA’s advocacy against Governor Cuomo and New York State regulators. He observes, “While Cuomo was of course free to express his own views, the Constitution would have something to say about it if he or his appointees had made veiled threats against banks and insurers to encourage them to disassociate from the NRA.”

Read More →

New York Law Journal Reports on New Documents Obtained in Case Against State of New York

On December 23, 2019, the New York Law Journal published the report, “NRA Secures New Documents in Bid to Revive Selective Enforcement Claims Against NY Officials.” The report states that the NRA "says it’s obtained new information that proves state officials in New York acted deliberately, and unlawfully, to strangle the gun lobby group of its financial resources because of its positions on gun control measures."

“The NRA has troubling new information that underscores the true motives of the State’s actions,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “Our client is determined to bring this evidence to light – to expose the backroom meetings and communications that were essential to Defendant’s scheme to silence and harm the NRA by any means necessary.”

According to a December 20 legal filing, documents obtained by the NRA show the state singled out its insurance products for sanctions while ignoring other policies with similar violations.

The Journal reports that evidence from those documents was included in a new version of the NRA’s lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state Department of Financial Services, and Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of that agency.

Read More →

New York Times Magazine Profiles NRA, Firm Advocacy

A New York Times Magazine profile story from December 22, 2019, “Inside Wayne LaPierre’s Battle for the NRA,” reports about various lawsuits and investigations being successfully managed by the firm’s client, the National Rifle Association.

Since March 2018, the firm has represented the NRA on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues, including a well-publicized First Amendment case against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services. The article provides an in-depth look into a myriad of important matters, and features interviews with NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and firm Managing Partner William Brewer.

Read More →

NRA Achieves Victory in San Francisco

As chronicled in various media reports, Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) achieved a victory in San Francisco, after Mayor London Breed formally disavowed key provisions of a municipal resolution that signaled the blacklisting of contractors linked to the gun group.

On September 3, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution that called for the City to investigate ties between its contractors and vendors and the NRA. The city declared the NRA was a "domestic terrorist organization."

On September 9, 2019, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and members of the Board of Supervisors. The lawsuit alleges violations of the NRA’s First Amendment rights, along with other related constitutional claims.

Rather than await a decision from a court, on September 23, 2019, San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued a formal memorandum to City officials, declaring that "no [municipal] department will take steps to restrict any contractor from doing business with the NRA or to restrict City contracting opportunities for any business that has any relationship with the NRA."

"The memo serves as a clear concession and a well-deserved win for the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution," says William A. Brewer III, the NRA’s outside counsel. "It is unfortunate that in today’s polarized times, some elected officials would rather silence opposing arguments than engage in good-faith debate. The NRA is America’s oldest civil rights organization – and won’t stand for that."

Brewer Client NRA Sues City of San Francisco

The New York Times reported that Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors client the National Rifle Association (NRA) sued San Francisco on September 9, 2019, for allegedly violating the NRA’s First Amendment speech rights after the city’s board of supervisors declared the NRA a terrorist organization.

William Brewer, the NRA’s outside counsel, called the city’s action “an assault on all advocacy organizations across the country.”

The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in San Francisco. The Times reported that the suit alleges that the city moved to “blacklist anyone linked to the N.R.A.” The suit also called the designation a “frivolous insult” but contended that “San Francisco’s actions pose a nonfrivolous constitutional threat.”

“In the face of recent, similar blacklisting schemes,” the lawsuit continued, “financial institutions have expressed reluctance to provide bank accounts for disfavored political groups, and city contractors fear losing their livelihoods if they support or even work with the N.R.A.”

The Washington Post also reported on the lawsuit, noting that the NRA alleges the resolution is “obviously unconstitutional.”

The Real Deal Reports on Real Estate Lawsuit in South Florida

The Real Deal South Florida Real Estate News reported on Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors client Wayne Goldberg, a retired hospitality executive, suing the development group Fernbrook Florida over a penthouse condo he alleges he was falsely induced to purchase in the luxury Sabbia Beach development in Pompano Beach, Florida, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

The lawsuit was filed in Broward County Circuit Court and the complaint alleges that the developer “held units off the market in order to create the appearance that units were in high-demand and to inflate sales prices.” The lawsuit contends that when he visited the penthouse that he “observed multiple severe, material deviations from the agreement and its amendments” and that a personal elevator had been placed in front of the “much-vaunted windows of the penthouse overlooking Pompano Beach.”

Brewer Client NRA Takes Step Forward in New York Lawsuit

An article from the New York Law Journal, “NRA Could Obtain Internal State Documents in Lawsuit Against Cuomo, DFS, After US Judge’s Review,” dated August 9, 2019, reports that a “series of documents that state officials from New York have wanted to withhold from the National Rifle Association in its lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a state agency will be reviewed by a federal judge in the coming weeks and could ultimately be disclosed to the gun lobby group.”

“For months, Gov. Cuomo and DFS have tried to conceal from the public, and the court, documents demonstrating the state’s internal rationale for its blacklisting campaign against the NRA,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “The NRA will aggressively pursue all the facts and press every advantage in this important advocacy.”

Brewer added, “This decision is a positive development for the NRA and its millions of members.”

The article states that the NRA is suing Cuomo, the Department of Financial Services and its former Superintendent Maria Vullo over claims that they “deliberately infringed on the group’s First Amendment rights through state actions.”

Dallas Morning News Reports on High-Profile Real Estate Lawsuit

Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors announced the filing of a lawsuit on June 18, 2019, on behalf of its client, Megatel Homes, against United Development Funding and Centurion American Development Group. Dallas Morning News Real Estate Editor Steve Brown wrote about the filing in an article titled, “Dallas builder Megatel seeks millions in damages from developer and finance firm.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in the 160th Judicial District Court in Dallas County, Texas, alleges that Megatel’s joint venture partners, UDF and Centurion, conspired to take advantage of Megatel. The lawsuit alleges breach of fiduciary duties and breach of good faith and fair dealing, among other claims.

"As alleged in the petition, our client believes that defendants conspired against their company to unfairly remove it from significant projects and to gain financial benefits to which defendants were not entitled," William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel for Megatel, said in a statement. Megatel is seeking more than $100 million.

The article reported that, “Among Megatel's charges is a claim that Centurion American sold homebuilding sites in its new communities that had been pledged to Megatel to other builders in order to raise cash.”

Megatel Homes was founded by brothers Zach and Aaron Ipour, and is a top-ten homebuilder in Dallas-Fort Worth.