Usher Law Group, P.C.
Usher Law Group has run from the same Sheepshead Bay office since 2013. It is a litigation firm with a criminal defense practice, which is the combination a police abuse case needs: the civil claim and the criminal charge come out of the same arrest, and they have to be handled together. This site is our Section 1983 practice: false arrest, excessive force, malicious prosecution, unlawful searches, and abuse in jails and prisons, in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Mikhail Usher founded the firm in 2013 and runs it. The firm's civil litigation practice and its criminal defense practice sit in the same office, and the police abuse work lives where the two meet. When a client comes to us after an arrest, the first questions are the criminal lawyer's questions: what is the charge, what is the evidence, what will the prosecutor do with it. The next questions are the civil lawyer's: was there probable cause, what force was used and why, what did the body-worn camera record, which agency employed the officers, and when does the notice of claim run. The answers to the second set depend on the first, and a firm that handles only one side handles it worse.
This site exists because the law in this area is written for lawyers and the deadlines are written against the people who need them. We maintain a documented ledger of every legal fact on this site with its source and the date we verified it, the deadline tool applies only rules that appear in that ledger, and we update the pages and the tool when the primary sources change rather than on a publishing schedule.
The civil case, with the criminal case in view
Section 1983 claims against police, jails and government officials
We investigate the incident, protect every deadline, bring the federal and state claims together, and take the case through discovery to settlement or trial. Where a criminal charge is open, we coordinate with defense counsel from the first call.
Each service is described on the services page, and each starts with the free case review.
New York, New Jersey and Florida
Our attorneys are admitted in the state and federal courts of New York and New Jersey, and Mikhail Usher is admitted in Florida, where cases are handled through our Aventura office. The rules differ in each state, and the deadlines pages go through them one by one.
For a matter in another court we associate with local counsel or refer the matter, and we say which at the first conversation.
Who would work on your case
Mikhail Usher, Esq.
Founder and managing attorney
Mikhail Usher founded the firm in 2013 and runs it. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and Florida, and in the federal system in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, and the Second and Third Circuits.
He studied political science at Brooklyn College and earned his law degree at St. Thomas University School of Law, where he competed on the school's national champion mock trial team. Thomson Reuters selected him for the Super Lawyers New York Metro Rising Stars list from 2015 through 2018 and for the Super Lawyers list in 2019 and 2020.
He leads the firm's litigation and criminal defense work. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers Association, and the New York and New Jersey State Bar Associations. He speaks English, Russian and Spanish.
Alexander Susi, Esq.
Associate
Alexander Susi is an associate at the firm. He was admitted in New York in 2022 and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2023. In the federal system he is admitted in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, and the Second Circuit.
He studied history and political science at New York University and earned his law degree at Boston University School of Law, where he did pro bono work for veterans and survivors of domestic violence.
His practice covers civil and commercial litigation, including the firm's civil rights cases, and immigration.
Mitchell Bromberg, Esq.
Associate
Mitchell Bromberg is an associate at the firm. He was admitted in New Jersey in 2023 and in New York in 2024. In the federal system he is admitted in the Eastern District of New York and the District of New Jersey.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Hunter College and his law degree at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
His practice centers on detained clients, including people held by ICE, bond proceedings and appeals, and he works on the firm's civil rights cases that arise from detention. He speaks English and Russian.
How we work on a police abuse case
An attorney does the analysis
Paralegals and staff support the work, but the probable cause analysis, the force analysis and the decision about which claims to bring are attorney work.
We protect the deadline first
The notice of claim goes in before anything else is decided. A claim that is noticed and later dropped costs nothing. A claim that is missed cannot be recovered.
We work with the criminal case, not around it
Where a charge is open, we coordinate with defense counsel, we do not take a statement without them, and we sequence the civil case so that it never hurts the criminal one.
We get the record before it disappears
Body-worn camera footage, 911 audio, surveillance video, medical records and the officers' disciplinary histories, requested and preserved in the first weeks.
We tell you the weaknesses
Including when qualified immunity is likely to be a real obstacle, when the criminal outcome closes a claim, and when the honest advice is that the case is not worth what it will cost you to bring it.
We publish no results figures
The public payout figures on this site describe other people's cases. We do not advertise our own settlements, and we will not predict yours.
We work on contingency and put it in writing
Our legal fee is a percentage of the recovery, confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. Case expenses are separate, and the retainer says who advances them.
We say no
If the case belongs with a different firm, or if there is no claim the facts will support, we tell you rather than taking a retainer.
Where the rest of the practice lives
Usher Law Group handles civil and commercial litigation, criminal defense, immigration, merchant cash advance and UCC defense, employment law, family law and consumer protection. This site is one of the firm's practice sites.
Usherlegal.com covers the full firm and every practice area, including the criminal defense practice that handles the charge from the same arrest.
Go to usherlegal.com →
icebail.comIcebail.com handles ICE detention, bond hearings and federal habeas, which is where a claim against federal immigration officers often begins.
Go to icebail.com →
properwage.comProperwage.com is our wage and hour practice: unpaid overtime, minimum wage and retaliation claims for workers in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Go to properwage.com →
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.