New law firms arise from and for various reasons, but one of the more unusual new law additions has been the development of a new law firm in New York combining a founding lawyer with a former client and based on the increasingly significant areas of tech abuse such as revenge porn and related online transgressions.
Incendii Law is the creation of a lawyer and her former client – now a lawyer and her partner – who handle cases for those suffering abuse through technologies, including such phenomena as revenge porn.
The background to the starting of their firm, outlined in an article in the New York Law Journal, follows the release of photos taken of Annie Seifullah, a former middle-school principal, when a former boyfriend, a PTA president, released private pictures of her to the New York City Department of Education.
Despite her claims that the photos were planted, she was removed from her position and later suspended.
She took legal action, turning to C.A. Goldberg, a Brooklyn law firm that specialized in such cases, where Aurore DeCarlo handled her case, resulting in a $210,000 settlement with the DOE.
Seifullah subsequently pursued a legal career, graduating from City University of New York School of Law in December 2018 and joining Goldberg’s firm in March 2019. Presently, she co-chairs the New York Cyber Abuse Task Force, dedicated to combating technology-facilitated abuse.
“I wanted to explore a different approach,” Seifullah told the Law Journal. “I believe both of our legal styles have evolved to benefit from a flexible model, working closely with a select number of clients. We wanted to handle client relationships and litigations in a manner that may not be feasible for larger law firms.”
DeCarlo and Seifullah explained that the name of their new firm, Incendii, is derived from the Latin word for “fire,” representing different facets of their personalities.
Presently, the firm comprises DeCarlo, Seifullah, and a paralegal managing approximately 20 cases from a home office in a Brooklyn brownstone, with no immediate plans for significant expansion.
While Incendii initially focused on cases involving tech abuse, the firm has expanded its practice to include cybersecurity, prisoner’s rights, consumer protection, and elder abuse.
Their approach emphasizes flexibility and accessibility, meeting clients wherever necessary to build trust and effectively represent their interests.
