Serving Our Community With Experience & Character

On December 18, 2022, Earl L. Moore, Jr. died in Springfield, IL after EMS workers Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan strapped him onto a stretcher facedown. An autopsy determined that Moore’s death was caused by positional asphyxia. Both EMS workers were charged with first-degree murder. Attorneys Bob Hilliard and Ben Crump were retained by the family of Earl Moore, Jr. and have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Finley, Cadigan, and LifeStar Ambulance company.

Hilliard joined forces, once again, with Ben Crump, to represent Emily Proulx, the girlfriend of teenager Erik Cantu, who was shot by a San Antonio police officer outside of a McDonald’s in October 2022.

On March 24, 2022, Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old boy, fell from a ride at Icon Park amusement part in Orlando, Florida. His father retained lawyers Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard.

Hilliard partnered with Attorney Ben Crump and took on systemic racism in the banking industry, winning a large settlement against a financial institution that imposed unreasonable standards on its Black customers. The sizable settlements represent victories against the widespread, racist phenomenon known as “Banking While Black.” The settlements provided funds to the victims of discrimination in the banking industry and required the banks to agree to policy changes and education – the first steps in eradicating racism.

On November 5, 2021, a fatal crowd crush occurred during Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival. Ezra Blount, the youngest victim to die in the Astroworld music festival tragedy, is represented by Hilliard.

On November 5, 2019, Nahje Flower, a University of New Mexico Lobos football player, was found dead from a self-inflicted gun-shot wound. Flower had suffered numerous concussions during his football career.  However, despite suffering serious brain injuries, Flower was forced to continue playing football by New Mexico head coach Robert Davie. Hilliard and Attorney Ben Crump, filed a civil lawsuit against the NCAA, Board of Regents, and Coach Robert Davie, Jr. in the U.S. District Court, for the District of New Mexico.  The ongoing lawsuit alleged nine claims, including wrongful death, and asserted that the 21-year-old football player was discriminated against by defendants, leading to his untimely death.

On July 7, 2021, the United States District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez determined that the United States Air Force was 60% responsible for the Sutherland Springs shooting massacre. Hilliard, who represented minor Ryland Ward, who was shot 5 times in the shooting; his mother, Chancie McMahan; and Scott Holcombe, whose family lost 3 generations of people, described Rodriguez’s opinion as “detailed, thoughtful and extremely thorough,” and noted the families were represented by numerous lawyers and firms “committed to the challenge of holding the Air Force accountable for its clear part in this tragedy.” 

On August 27, 2020, Humanitarian and activist Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the Academy Award-nominated film Hotel Rwanda (2004) by actor Don Cheadle, was transported to his native Rwanda and charged with terrorism, murder, and other crimes. Following a 1996 attempted assassination, Rusesabagina has lived in exile in Texas. According to a New York Times report, Rusesabagina agreed to travel to Bujumbura, Burundi, where a Christian pastor had invited him to speak to local churches. He traveled on an Emirates flight from Chicago to Dubai. Later that same night, he boarded a private Bombardier Challenger 605 jet from Greek charter company GainJet that landed in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

In partnership with Rusesabagina’s family and international human rights groups, Hilliard’s firm agreed to join Mr. Rusesabagina’s legal team. On December 14, 2020, the lawsuit against GainJet was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that Rusesabagina was wrongfully kidnapped and flown to Rwanda without due process to face accusations of alleged terrorism. A vocal critic of the Rwandan government, Rusesabagina has condemned President Kagame’s leadership and human rights violations in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and Civil War.

On June 7, 2010, Hilliard represented the family of Sergio Hernandez Guereca, an unarmed 15-year-old, was playing with his friends near the U.S./Mexico border when he was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agent.

Hernández was standing on Mexican soil when shot. Hilliard also represented the family of Guillermo Arevalo Pedraza, who was killed under similar circumstances by a different U.S. Border Patrol agent. The cases sparked a confrontation between former Mexican President Felipe Calderón and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

A federal judge had initially dismissed the Hernández family’s case. However, that decision was overturned by a panel of judges in the Fifth Circuit, allowing that a Mexican national, standing in Mexico, possesses Fourth Amendment constitutional rights that allow him to sue a United States Border Patrol Agent for excessive use of force across the U.S. border. The Fifth Circuit granted rehearing en banc of the panel’s decision. Oral arguments were held on January 21, 2015, and the court decided to vacate the panel’s decision.

On October 11, 2016, the United States Supreme Court granted Hilliard’s petition for a writ of certiorari to determine if a Mexican citizen standing in Mexico has protections against being wrongly shot by a border patrol agent standing in the United States. Hilliard presented oral arguments to the Court on behalf of the Hernández family on February 21, 2017. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit’s decision and remanded the case. Mr. Hilliard stated, “In this case, justice doesn’t travel as far as a bullet does. To be left with no remedy, given a lethal and unprovoked shooting, weakens the constitutional foundation of America’s house.”

On May 28, 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted Hilliard’s second petition for a writ of certiorari. 

On February 25, 2020, the Court ruled against Hernández and concluded that the Bivens precedent did not extend to cross-border shootings and that it’s the responsibility of the United States Congress to find a solution for this type of case in the future.

On March 24, 2018, while playing for the Grand Rapids Drive against the Long Island Nets, Zeke Upshaw suddenly collapsed on the court in full cardiac arrest. The Drive’s on-site medical team transported Zeke to the hospital where he died two days later, without regaining consciousness.

On behalf of Zeke’s mother, Jewel Upshaw, Hilliard and Florida civil rights lawyer Ben Crump filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Hilliard and Crump brought legal action against the NBA, the Detroit Pistons, the Grand Rapids Drive, and the Deltaplex Arena where the game was held. A deal was reached in December, 2019 with the NBA and the Pistons, but no details were disclosed.

On March 22, 2018, Danny Ray Thomas was shot and killed by Harris County Deputy Cameron Brewer during an incident at a busy Houston intersection.

Mr. Thomas, who had a history of mental illness and was clearly in distress, was unarmed and walking in the intersection with his pants around his ankles. The deputy shot him in the chest just moments after arriving on the scene.

On April 12, 2018, Hilliard joined forces with Florida civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump, to file a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Thomas’s family, holding Deputy Cameron Brewer and the county responsible for the wrongful death. The former deputy was found not guilty on August 1, 2019 and was reinstated one year later.

Hilliard sued the Houston Astros in 2019 over the sign-stealing scandal, and the Court denied the Astros’ attempts to claim their tactics were entitled to First Amendment protection and dismissal under various Texas laws. In response, Hilliard wrote, “In sum, the Astros’ position seems to be: ‘Okay, so we may stoop to intentionally cheating just to win a World Series and title, but we would never stoop to using racist legal arguments just to win a case against our own fans.’ Much like E.B. White’s description of the nature of Templeton the rat, in Charlotte’s Web, the Astros, faced with their own proven nature, now make an argument that is both hollow and inconsistent. ‘The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything.’ E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web, (1952).”