Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Basics: Spotting Cases and Protecting Client Rights

Al earned his Bachelor of Arts from Beloit College in 1973 and his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 1976, where he was a Root-Tilden Public Interest Law Scholar. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Supreme Court of Minnesota, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Ohio, Northern District of Ohio, and Eastern District of Kentucky.

Al's career has earned him significant honors reflecting both his legal acumen and his commitment to public service. Recent recognition includes being named one of Cincinnati's Top 50 SuperLawyers in 2021 — one of only eight cited for civil rights work in Ohio and Kentucky — and receiving the 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati. In 2016, he received three major honors: the Holmes-Weatherly Award from the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston; an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago; and, jointly with his wife Mimi Gingold, the Making Democracy Work Award from the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area. His leadership extends well beyond the courtroom. He founded the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (formerly the Prison Reform Advocacy Center), serving as its President from 1997 to 2010 and on its board through 2013. His role as lead counsel in Obergefell v. Hodges — the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing marriage equality nationwide — is chronicled in Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality (Harper Collins 2016) by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell, and his civil rights work is featured in the Netflix documentary series Amend: The Fight for America.

Al maintains an extensive record of professional and civic engagement. He serves as a Master of the Bench (1984–present) and Emeritus member (1988–present) of the Potter Stewart American Inn of Court, and was a longtime member of the Editorial Board of the Correctional Law Reporter (1999–2014). He holds memberships in the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, and the Ohio State Bar Association, and has served on the Board of the Ohio Association for Justice since 2007. Since 2009, he has served on the Judicial Advisory Commission for the Northern District of Ohio, appointed by United States Senator Sherrod Brown to evaluate candidates for the federal district court bench. He served as principal author of the ordinance establishing Cincinnati's Civilian Police Review Panel, following his work as counsel to the NAACP, the Urban League, the Baptist Ministers' Conference, and other community organizations in U.S. Department of Justice–led mediation with the City of Cincinnati. Earlier in his career, he served as Circuit Secretary for the Sixth Judicial Circuit of NYU School of Law's Root-Tilden-Kern Program (1997–2000) and on the Selection Committee for the Soros Justice Fellowship Program at the Center on Crime, Communities and Culture in New York City (1997–1999). Al has also taught civil rights litigation at Northern Kentucky University's Chase College of Law and the University of Cincinnati, and is widely sought as a commentator on civil rights issues by national and Ohio media.

Al's career is defined by a series of landmark victories that have delivered both substantial recoveries for clients and lasting institutional change. In Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), he served as lead counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court case that secured marriage equality for same-sex couples in all 50 states. In the police accountability arena, he served as lead counsel for the family of Samuel DuBose in a 2016 settlement against the University of Cincinnati valued at approximately $4.85 million, which included a presidential apology, tuition and fee waivers for twelve children, a permanent campus memorial, and the family's participation in comprehensive police reforms. He was also lead counsel in the 2002 class action that produced Cincinnati's Collaborative Agreement — a $4.5 million settlement and reform framework that has been cited nationally as a model for police reform. His other significant police accountability victories include a $3.5 million settlement and sweeping policy reforms for the family of Samantha Ramsey (2016); a $2.25 million settlement for the family of Tanisha Anderson (2017); a $3 million settlement for taser victim David Nall (2015); and a $2.25 million recovery in 1995 for a taser victim who suffered permanent brain injury. His 2012 Report of Taser Risks has driven taser policy reform at law enforcement agencies nationwide. In wrongful conviction work, Al has represented Michael Green, who received $1.6 million from the City of Cleveland following thirteen years of wrongful imprisonment — a settlement that triggered a forensic audit of the Cleveland crime lab and led to the identification of additional wrongfully incarcerated individuals. He continues as lead counsel for Anthony Lemons, who served more than 27 years in prison before being declared wrongfully imprisoned. His prison and prisoner rights work includes leading the class action that secured $4 million in damages for the prisoner victims of the Lucasville riot — the longest and third-deadliest prison riot in U.S. history — and the case that closed Ohio's first private prison in Youngstown, securing $1.65 million in damages and strict controls on its reopening. He has also led class actions challenging health care in Ohio's prison system, secured sentence reductions for thousands of prisoners in Hernandez v. Wilkinson, and partnered with the Children's Law Center to drive reforms at the Ohio Department of Youth Services that closed five facilities and reduced the youth population from 2,200 to approximately 450. Additional landmark work includes Culberson v. Doan (1999), a $3.75 million recovery with regional reforms protecting victims of domestic violence; and Chesher v. Neyer (2002), an $8 million class action against the Hamilton County Coroner's office. Al has also served for many years as general counsel to the Cincinnati Planned Parenthood affiliate and has represented abortion providers in numerous cases challenging restrictions on reproductive health care.