Washington, D.C. - Wilkinson Stekloff associate Xiao Wang secured another significant pro bono appellate win in the Eleventh Circuit, representing Joshua Dickinson, an individual who was violently assaulted while detained in an Alabama jail following an argument with a family member. The Eleventh Circuit concluded that Mr. Dickinson could continue his lawsuit to vindicate his civil rights. Xiao, along with supervising partner Jeremy Barber, argued on appeal that the district court had correctly allowed Mr. Dickinson’s suit to proceed. Wilkinson Stekloff’s briefing highlighted the unjust and unsafe conditions of the Mobile County Metro Jail, including the information and multiple warnings the County Sheriff and Jail Warden had received prior to the unfortunate event.  The Eleventh Circuit agreed that the Sheriff and Warden were not entitled to qualified immunity, deciding to interpret narrowly a prior opinion that had applied an expansive reading to qualified immunity.   “The jail failed to address multiple ...

Washington, D.C. - Wilkinson Stekloff associate Xiao Wang secured a significant pro bono win in the Sixth Circuit, convincing the court to vacate Manndrell Evann Lee’s 60-month sentence as substantively unreasonable.  Xiao had been appointed to represent Mr. Lee as a member of the Sixth Circuit’s Criminal Justice Act panel.   Xiao and partner James Rosenthal argued on appeal that the district court had failed to give sufficient reasons for Mr. Lee’s above-guidelines prison term. The Sixth Circuit agreed and reversed the district court’s decision in a published opinion which established that there must be a “meaningful relationship between the offense of conviction and the defendant’s alleged likelihood of reoffending.” The court further held that there was no such meaningful relationship as to Mr. Lee and vacated his 60-month sentence. The case is now set for resentencing in December 2020.     “We are thrilled with the court’s opinion,” said Wilkinson Stekloff associate ...