Steven Lieberman Authors Opinion Piece in New York Daily News on Pro Bono Matter Defending First Amendment Rights and Standing for Israel
Partner Steven Lieberman authored an Opinion piece for The New York Daily News titled "Don't be afraid to stand up for Israel," published on March 13, 2025. In the piece, Steven reflects on his victory defending Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld pro bono in two case in the D.C. Superior Court involving First Amendment protection and standing up for Israel in the face of intimidation.
Rabbi Herzfeld, a well-known and widely-respected Rabbi in Washington, D.C., is the founder of Yeshivas Elimelech, a Jewish school (yeshiva) in northwest D.C. On the Taanit Esther holiday in 2024, he visited the Israeli Embassy to offer prayers for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 2023. As he began to pray, anti-Israel protesters unleashed a sound attack against him, leading to acute acoustic trauma. In response, Steven and the Rothwell Figg team filed a lawsuit on behalf of Rabbi Herzfeld, alleging claims of assault and battery stemming from the sound attack. Shortly thereafter, two of the protesters countered by filing anti-stalking orders against Rabbi Herzfeld in the Domestic Violence Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, claiming he had stalked them by appearing and making comments at their protests at the Israeli Embassy.
Steven and the Rothwell Figg team filed a special motion to dismiss the cases pursuant to the District of Columbia’s Anti-SLAPP statute. They argued that the petitions run afoul of the statute because the allegations all related to Rabbi Herzfeld’s constitutionally protected rights to prayer and speech. Following three days of trial, the court denied both petitions, ruling that there was no evidence that Rabbi Herzfeld engaged in any type of stalking behavior and affirming that his actions were constitutionally protected by the First Amendment.
Following the trial, Rothwell Figg requested a ruling on its special motion to dismiss and asked that the court order the petitioners to pay Rabbi Herzfeld’s costs and attorneys’ fees. The D.C. Anti-SLAPP statute provides that a court “may award a moving party who prevails, in whole or in part, on a motion brought under [the Anti-SLAPP statute], the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees.” The petitioners argued that Rabbi Herzfeld was not entitled to attorneys’ fees and that the special motion to dismiss was moot because the court denied both petitions after the trial.
The court rejected the petitioners' arguments. In its order, the court found that the two petitions were filed in “bad faith” and were “clearly the type that should be discouraged under the anti-SLAPP Act” because the petitions were brought for “coercive purposes,” namely “to interfere with constitutionally protected right to go to the site of the protests at the Israeli embassy.” The court granted Rothwell Figg's motion, ordering the petitioners to pay Rabbi Herzfeld’s costs and attorneys’ fees.
In his Opinion piece in The New York Daily News, "Don't be afraid to stand up for Israel" published on March 13, 2025, Steven concludes with a powerful lesson: "no matter what tools the haters of Israel use to stop Jews from supporting Israel, the American legal system will protect us. We have the constitutional right to express our support for Israel and to stand with Israel. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise."
The cases are Rokhvand v. Herzfeld, No. 2024 ASO 451 (D.C. Super. Ct.) and Barmada v. Herzfeld, No. 2024 ASO 452 (D.C. Super. Ct.). Rabbi Herzfeld was represented Rothwell Figg attorneys Steven Lieberman, Robert Parker and Nicole DeAbrantes.
