The practice of Schwartz Perry & Heller LLP was created more than 60 years ago in 1949 when its founder and Managing Partner, Murray Schwartz, was admitted to practice. More than 20 years ago, Mr. Schwartz began directing and focusing the firm toward representing victims of employment discrimination in all its forms, including related fields of employment law. In 1991, at the time the employment law field was expanding, Mr. Schwartz's daughter, Davida S. Perry, joined the firm as an Associate. Ms. Perry earned a Partnership in 1994. Both Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Perry hold the highest legal ability rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Schwartz Perry & Heller LLP has been involved in a number of first impression cases which have had a lasting influence on employment law in New York, including the landmark cases of Thoreson v. Penthouse Magazine and Robert Guccione, Bracker v. Cohen and McIntyre v. Manhattan Ford, Lincoln Mercury.
The firm has obtained a number of verdicts and settlements for more than a million dollars. Recently, following a two-week trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, a jury returned a verdict in the amount of $2.5 million, of which $300,000 was an award for punitive damages.
The firm's attorneys lecture and write articles for numerous bar associations in the New York City area, including the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), as well as its New York affiliate, and several licensed Continuing Legal Education (CLE) providers.
More than a decade ago, Schwartz Perry & Heller LLP developed a Legal Internship Program which has provided law students from New York-area law schools an opportunity to obtain hands-on, practical legal experience in the field of employment law. Legal Internship Programs are available during the Fall and Spring academic semesters, as well as during the Summer. Each year, the firm continues to expand its Legal Internship Program.
Schwartz Perry & Heller LLP is considered one of New York City's premier law firms specializing in employment law based upon the significant achievements it has and continues to earn.
