Al Gerhardstein
PARTNER
For more than 40 years, Alphonse (Al) Gerhardstein has litigated causes, not just cases, in all of his civil rights practice areas, including police abuse, wrongful conviction, prisoner rights, gay rights and more.
Central to his work is the pursuit of meaningful, lasting reforms. For Gerhardstein, it’s not just about seeking and getting monetary damages or settlements for clients. The further goal is to leave a defendant’s city or government agency better off than before, to seek true reforms by looking at the source of the problem and working to remediate that problem so the next person is less likely to be abused.
Gerhardstein has successfully litigated many police abuse cases in his career. As lead counsel for the Sam DuBose family, he secured a settlement worth approximately $5 million, an apology from the President of the University of Cincinnati, participation in extensive police reforms at the university and a permanent memorial on campus. Gerhardstein talks about the settlement here.
He also was lead counsel on behalf of the family of Samantha Ramsey, an unarmed young woman shot and killed by a Boone County Kentucky deputy in 2013. The settlement of Samantha’s case included $3.5 million, the adoption of body cameras, policies to ensure improved internal investigations, and policies to regulate the use of prescription drugs by officers on duty, and a revised use of force policy.
Gerhardstein also focuses on systemic police reform. His advocacy for taser reform has caused numerous law enforcement agencies to improve their taser policies. His 2012 Report of Taser Risks is a significant compilation of his work.
In addition, Gerhardstein has worked passionately on behalf of the wrongfully convicted and prosecuted, including Michael Green, who was paid $1.6 million by the City of Cleveland (and a confidential sum by another defendant) for his 13-year wrongful imprisonment. That settlement included a forensic audit of the Cleveland crime lab, which resulted in the discovery of more wrongfully incarcerated people. He also is lead counsel for Anthony Lemons, who has been declared a wrongfully imprisoned person and is litigating compensation for his more than 27 years of prison time.
In addition, Gerhardstein has advocated, through the law, on many other civil rights issues, including race, sex, sexual orientation and disability discrimination, prisoner rights, voting rights, and reproductive health issues.
Some examples:
He was lead counsel on the class action that secured $4 million in damages and a return to normalcy for the prisoner victims of the Lucasville riot, the longest and third most deadly prison riot in U.S. history.
He led the case that closed Ohio’s first private prison in Youngstown, Ohio, and secured $1,65 million in damages and strict controls on reopening.
Gerhardstein also has led class actions challenging health care in Ohio’s prison system and successfully secured reductions in thousands of sentences on behalf of a class of prisoners improperly ordered to serve post-release control in Ohio (Hernandez v. Wilkinson). Additionally, along with the Children’s Law Center, he secured extensive reforms for youth committed to the Ohio Department of Youth Services, closing five facilities and reducing the population from 2,200 youth to an average of 450.
In addition, Gerhardstein has served as general counsel for the Cincinnati Planned Parenthood affiliate for many years and represented abortion providers in numerous cases challenging unjust restrictions on abortion procedures.
Notably, in his gay rights work, Gerhardstein was lead counsel in Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case establishing marriage equality for same-sex couples in all 50 states. The journey to the Supreme Court is chronicled in the book, “Love Wins, The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality,” by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell. (Harper Collins 2016).
His long history of gay rights litigation will be featured in a soon to be released Netflix documentary starring Will Smith titled: “Amend: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Story of Inclusion.”
Gerhardstein has been interviewed and quoted extensively in national and Ohio media and has taught civil rights litigation at Northern Kentucky’s University’s Chase College of Law and the University of Cincinnati.
He has been married to Mimi Gingold for 48-plus years. They have three children, two of whom are lawyers, and three grandchildren. He has run five marathons and bicycled across the country, including one trip from Seattle, Washington, to Portland, Maine. He also rode tandem with his daughter Jessica from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Ferguson, Missouri, to New Orleans.
EDUCATION
Beloit College, (B.A., 1973)
New York University School of Law (Root-Tilden Public Interest Law Scholarship), (J.D., 1976)
Key Cases
2016: Estate of Sam DuBose v. Tensing, Lead counsel on Excessive force case settled against officer and University of Cincinnati. $4.85 million in damages, apology, university tuition and fee waiver for 12 children, memorial on campus, and participation in University of Cincinnati police reform.
2002: Lead counsel on a class-action lawsuit that resulted in payment of $4.5 million and reforms embodied in Cincinnati’s Collaborative Agreement (In re Cincinnati Policing, 209 F.R.D. 395 (S.D. OH. 2002)), which has been repeatedly cited as a national model for police reform.
2017: $2.25 million settlement for the family of Tanisha Anderson of Cleveland (with attorney David Malik)
2015: $3 million settlement for David Nall who was permanently injured by a Painesville Ohio officer abusing his taser (with attorney David Malik)
1995: $2.25 million for a taser victim who suffered permanent brain injury (In Re: Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, N.D. OH, Case No. 4:97-CV-1995)
1999: $3.75 million for the family of Carrie Culberson based on the failure of police to recover her remains following her murder (Culberson v. Doan). The case was settled with extensive regional reforms that brought much greater protection to battered women.
2002: Chesher v. Neyer: Class action against the Hamilton County Coroner morgue. County paid $8 million to a class of families who suffered emotional distress when the coroner permitted a commercial photographer to manipulate and pose the bodies with props.
PRACTICE AREAS
BAR ADMISSIONS
United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Ohio
Supreme Court of Minnesota
United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio
United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio
United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Founder, Ohio Justice and Policy Center (formerly Prison Reform Advocacy Center),
President 1997 – 2010; Board 1997 – 2013
Editorial Board, Correctional Law Reporter, 1999 - 2014
The Potter Stewart American Inn of Court
Master of the Bench, (1984 - present);
Emeritus (1988 - present)
National Lawyers Guild (through 2000)
American Civil Liberties Union
National Employment Lawyers Association
Cincinnati Bar Association
Ohio State Bar Association
Ohio Association for Justice Board Member 2007 - present
Judicial Advisory Commission For the Northern District of Ohio 2009 – present
(Appointed by United States Senator Sherrod Brown to serve on the Commission that reviews and interviews candidates for open positions on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)
Cincinnati Civilian Police Review Panel
Principal author of ordinance establishing civilian review board following service as counsel to NAACP, Urban League, Baptist Minister’s Conference and other community groups in mediation with City of Cincinnati conducted by the United States Department of Justice. (1998)
Circuit Secretary, Sixth Judicial Circuit, NYU School of Law Root Tilden Kern Program 1997-2000
Selection Committee, Soros Justice Fellowship Program, Center on Crime,
Communities and Culture (New York City)(1997 – 1999)
Glenmore Justice Institute, 1999, Invited Participant
Awards
2021: Cincinnati Top 50 SuperLawyer (One of 8 SuperLawyers cited for work in civil rights in Ohio and Kentucky.)
2019- Distinguished Service Award, Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
2016 – Holmes-Weatherly Award, Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston, Massachusetts
2016 – Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago, IL
2016 – Making Democracy Work Award (Joint with wife, Mimi Gingold), League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area