Franklin L. Ferguson, Jr., Esq.

Franklin L. Ferguson, Jr., Esq. prosecutes civil rights violations on behalf of Plaintiffs. From January, 1995 until August 1999 and again from July, 2004 to the present, Franklin has spent his legal career working as a solo practitioner, managing a civil rights practice. Franklin litigates (i.e. civil trials, appeals, administrative hearings and writs), negotiates, and settles cases on behalf of civil rights Plaintiffs. Franklin’s specific areas of expertise include:

• Police Misconduct-wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, physical abuse, malicious prosecution

• Employment Discrimination & Harassment-retaliation, race, sex, disability and family leave

• Wrongful Termination-severance negotiation, reduction in force, breach of contract, whistle-blower, public policy and Labor Code violations

• Civil Service Administrative Proceedings-government employee administrative hearings and writs

• Defamation-libel, slander, false light publication and other First Amendment issues

• Wage and Hour violations-Wage and hour laws are those laws that govern payment of minimum wages and maximum working hours of the work force in the U.S. Violations include the failure to properly calculate and pay minimum wage and/or overtime compensation

• Wrongful Death-medical malpractice, infliction of emotional distress (negligent and/or intentional)

Franklin works diligently with each of his clients in the pursuit of justice. Admitted to the State Bar of California June, 1994, Franklin began his legal career as a staff attorney with the Mark Rosenberg Community Law Center of South-Central Los Angeles, a pilot project of the ACLU of Southern California. While at the ACLU, Franklin handled a variety of community-organizing projects, a death penalty investigation and was introduced to impact civil rights litigation.

From 1995 through 1999, Franklin worked as an Adjunct Professor of Law, at Southwestern University School of Law and Loyola Law School. As an adjunct, Franklin taught a “Race & Racism” seminar, the “Race/American Legal Development” course and a “Civil Rights & Civil Liberties” seminar.

From 1999 through 2004, Franklin was privileged to teach law on a full-time basis. At Southwestern University School of Law, in Los Angeles, Franklin taught Torts, SCALE Torts Transactions, Race/American Legal Development and Civil Rights & Civil Liberties. As an associate law professor, Franklin developed and honed critical litigation skills, particularly with respect to trial presentation and juror selection strategy, which he daily employs, on behalf of his current clients. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the New York University School of Law.

My Writing

When writing, my purpose is to familiarize my readers with concepts which are essential to their standard of living, yet shrouded in legal terminology. I believe that context is extremely important and that one cannot demonstrate too many manifestations of an idea. My job as an author is to place into context the steps the reader might take in order to achieve her desired outcome. With respect to this particular column, said outcome consists of surviving an interaction with a law enforcement officer. Peace and God bless.