Full Name
Reed Colfax
Position Title
Partner
Organization/Affiliation (full name)
Relman Colfax PLLC
Speaker Bio
Reed Colfax is a Partner at Relman Colfax. Reed joined the firm in 2004. He practices primarily
in civil rights litigation. He maintains a varied trial court practice that includes challenges to
discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and employment throughout the United
States. In his fair housing appellate practice, he has appeared and argued multiple times before
the Second, Fourth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits and has drafted amicus briefs in the U.S.
Supreme Court and numerous Circuits on a variety of fair housing issues on behalf of fair
housing and civil rights advocacy organizations around the country.
Reed has served as lead counsel in a host of jury trials, including Kennedy v. City of Zanesville, a
67-plaintiff challenge to a decades-long governmental refusal to provide water services to a
predominantly African-American community that culminated in a $10.8 million verdict for the
plaintiffs; 2922 Sherman Ave. v. District of Columbia, a Fair Housing Act case against the
District of Columbia challenging its condemnation of multi-family apartment buildings in
predominantly Latino neighborhoods of the city; and Saint-Jean v. Emigrant Mortgage, Co.,
where the liability finding in favor of the plaintiffs was the first verdict for plaintiffs in a reverse
redlining case in federal court. Other trials have included cases on behalf of developers
challenging municipal governments’ efforts to block affordable housing developments for
discriminatory reasons. Reed has also served as class counsel or subclass counsel in a number of
large class actions, including In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation (D.D.C.), In re Flint
Water Cases (E.D. Mich.), and McLarty v. Presbyterian Health Services, Inc. (N.M.).
Prior to joining the firm, Reed was the project director of the Fair Housing Project at the
Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs from 2000 to 2004, and a
Skadden Fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., from 1997 to 1999.
While with the Washington Lawyers' Committee, Reed coordinated and litigated a number of
legal challenges to discrimination by restaurants and hotels against African-American
motorcyclists attending Black Bike Week in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Reed has been a frequent lecturer on a variety of issues related to housing and public
accommodations discrimination before national, state, and local groups including the NAACP,
National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, and the National Fair Housing Alliance. Reed
was named a Finalist for the 2009 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Public Justice
Foundation.
in civil rights litigation. He maintains a varied trial court practice that includes challenges to
discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and employment throughout the United
States. In his fair housing appellate practice, he has appeared and argued multiple times before
the Second, Fourth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits and has drafted amicus briefs in the U.S.
Supreme Court and numerous Circuits on a variety of fair housing issues on behalf of fair
housing and civil rights advocacy organizations around the country.
Reed has served as lead counsel in a host of jury trials, including Kennedy v. City of Zanesville, a
67-plaintiff challenge to a decades-long governmental refusal to provide water services to a
predominantly African-American community that culminated in a $10.8 million verdict for the
plaintiffs; 2922 Sherman Ave. v. District of Columbia, a Fair Housing Act case against the
District of Columbia challenging its condemnation of multi-family apartment buildings in
predominantly Latino neighborhoods of the city; and Saint-Jean v. Emigrant Mortgage, Co.,
where the liability finding in favor of the plaintiffs was the first verdict for plaintiffs in a reverse
redlining case in federal court. Other trials have included cases on behalf of developers
challenging municipal governments’ efforts to block affordable housing developments for
discriminatory reasons. Reed has also served as class counsel or subclass counsel in a number of
large class actions, including In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation (D.D.C.), In re Flint
Water Cases (E.D. Mich.), and McLarty v. Presbyterian Health Services, Inc. (N.M.).
Prior to joining the firm, Reed was the project director of the Fair Housing Project at the
Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs from 2000 to 2004, and a
Skadden Fellow with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., from 1997 to 1999.
While with the Washington Lawyers' Committee, Reed coordinated and litigated a number of
legal challenges to discrimination by restaurants and hotels against African-American
motorcyclists attending Black Bike Week in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Reed has been a frequent lecturer on a variety of issues related to housing and public
accommodations discrimination before national, state, and local groups including the NAACP,
National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, and the National Fair Housing Alliance. Reed
was named a Finalist for the 2009 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Public Justice
Foundation.
Speaking At
