Defending Housing Providers in Assistance Animal Disputes: Accommodation Requests, Enforcement, and Litigation

John W. Egan, partner | Seyfarth Shaw LLP

John W. Egan defends public accommodation, housing providers, and employers in single-plaintiff and class action disability access litigation in courts across the country. His practice spans the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act (FHA), Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and related federal, state, and local civil rights laws, along with agency proceedings before the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

• Education & Credentials

John earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Emory International Law Review, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He is admitted to practice in New York, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.

• Recognition & Leadership

John chaired the Disability Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association from 2017 to 2020 and currently serves as vice-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Disability Rights. A national thought leader on complex accessibility issues, he has been quoted in The New York Times, ABA Journal, Corporate Counsel, Crain’s New York Business, and the New York Observer, and has appeared as a television commentator on Spectrum News – NY1.

• Professional Involvement

A member of Seyfarth’s ADA Title III & Public Access team, John lectures regularly on emerging disability law issues, contributes frequently to the firm’s ADA Title III News & Insights Blog, and conducts presentations and training for clients and national CLE providers on ADA compliance and best practices. He is active in the firm’s inclusion and diversity communities, and his pro bono practice includes counseling and representing veterans and 9/11 First Responders in applications for disability government benefits.

• Experience

John’s experience covers all facets of disability access litigation and counseling, from first-chairing defenses through summary judgment and trial to negotiating early, favorable resolutions and advising on novel digital accessibility questions. In his housing accessibility practice, he counsels and defends landlords, developers, condominiums, and cooperatives in disability matters under the FHA and state and municipal housing discrimination laws, works with New York City condominium and cooperative boards and their managing agents on accommodation issues, and advises property owners, developers, lenders, and investors on accessibility issues arising in real estate due diligence. He also defends employers in matters involving workplace accommodation for employees with disabilities and leave-related issues.

Gwen Roy-Harrison, Principal | Offit Kurman

Gwen Roy-Harrison represents multi-family housing providers, developers, and business owners of all sizes, litigating residential and commercial landlord disputes on behalf of large property management companies, small and mid-sized businesses, and individual owners. She has developed depth in the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as they apply to housing providers and HUD compliance, advising and representing clients in HUD complaints, state and local discrimination investigations, and regulatory compliance, and conducting Fair Housing Act trainings.

• Education & Credentials

Gwen earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she served as Lead Articles Editor of the San Diego Law Review, and her B.S. from the University of Mary Washington. She is admitted to practice in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland.

• Recognition & Leadership

Gwen has been named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Litigation – Real Estate and Real Estate Law (2021–2025), selected to Maryland Rising Stars® for Real Estate (2023–2027), and selected to Washington, D.C. Rising Stars® for Real Estate (2023). She serves as a Principal at Offit Kurman and Co-Chair of the firm’s DEI Committee.

• Professional Involvement

Gwen has served as a board member of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in the Law (DC Chapter) since 2020 and is a member of the D.C. Bar Association’s Real Estate, Housing and Land Use Section and The Barristers. She frequently presents, virtually and in person, across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia on HUD compliance, Fair Housing Act training, and best practices housing providers can use to avoid fair housing and discrimination complaints.

• Experience

Gwen spends much of her time in court prosecuting and defending cases for housing providers and has honed a specialty in resolving disputes for condominium and cooperative associations. Outside the courtroom, she devotes considerable time to transactional work, including lease review and drafting, non-disclosure agreements, and confidential settlement and general release agreements.

Jennifer Jean-Gilles, Principal | Offit Kurman

Jennifer Jean-Gilles concentrates her real estate practice on resolving landlord-tenant disputes, representing landlords of all sizes in residential and commercial litigation. Her representation also includes lease drafting, resolving fair housing disputes, and prosecuting breach of lease actions.

• Education & Credentials

Jennifer earned her J.D. from Widener University Delaware Law School and her B.S. from Drexel University. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jennifer serves as a Principal at Offit Kurman and as Treasurer of the National Black Prosecutors Association Foundation.

• Professional Involvement

Jennifer is a member of the D.C. Bar Association and of its Real Estate, Housing, and Land Use Section.

• Experience

Before joining Offit Kurman, Jennifer served as a prosecutor at both the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, trying numerous cases to verdict in both bench and jury trials. She also spent several years managing affordable housing sites, with experience in Low-Income Housing Credit (LIHTC) properties, recertifications, and lease disputes.

Luke LaHaye, Associate | Adams & Reese

Luke LaHaye maintains a diverse practice centered on litigation and on regulatory and compliance counseling. He represents clients principally in commercial litigation and labor and employment matters, and his regulatory practice ranges from advising clients on customs and international trade issues to counseling financial institutions and service providers on compliance with federal and state consumer protection statutes and regulations.

• Education & Credentials

Luke earned his J.D., cum laude, with a Civil Law Certificate from Tulane University Law School in 2019 and holds an M.S. in Finance (2013) and a B.S. in Finance (2012) from Louisiana State University. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Louisiana, and New York.

• Recognition & Leadership

Luke has been selected to the Louisiana Super Lawyers® Rising Stars list for Business Litigation (2024 and 2025). In law school, he served as Senior Managing Editor of the Tulane Law Review and received the Class of 2000 Law Review Award.

• Professional Involvement

Luke served as legal research and writing senior fellow at Tulane University Law School and as a judicial extern for both the Honorable Sarah S. Vance and the Honorable Jane Triche Milazzo of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He is the author of an article on abandonment and land banking in New Orleans published in the Tulane Law Review Online (2019).

• Experience

Luke’s litigation practice covers a variety of areas, predominantly commercial litigation and labor and employment. His compliance practice spans customs and international trade counseling and consumer protection regulatory advice for financial institutions and service providers.

SESSION 1 – Assistance Animals After the Reset: What Defense Counsel Need to Know | 1:00pm – 1:40pm ET

When HUD withdrew FHEO Notices 2020-01 and 2013-01 in September 2025, defense counsel lost the federal checklist they had relied on for years — yet the underlying obligations under 24 C.F.R. §§ 100.202(d) and 100.204 remain fully in force, and DOJ enforcement has continued through settlements like Estrada, Gregory Estates, and Menendez. In this 40-minute session, we will focus on three things defense attorneys representing housing providers need to operationalize now: what guidance still binds and what no longer applies; how to deploy the multi-factor reasonableness test from Henderson v. Five Properties LLC to defeat automatic fee-waiver demands; and how to build defensible response timelines and denial letters under § 100.204 — anchored in observed behavioral incidents rather than breed, weight, or size. Attendees will leave with a litigation-ready Henderson five-factor analysis framework, a denial-letter outline built to withstand summary judgment, and the counseling points to advise clients before the next accommodation dispute escalates.

BREAK | 1:40pm – 1:50pm ET

SESSION 2 – Defense-Side Assistance: Evaluating Reasonable Accommodation Requests such as Necessity, Nexus, and Compliance | 1:50pm – 2:30pm ET

I will focus on the legal standard governing reasonable accommodation requests. I will cover the elements a requestor must establish, and how courts and HUD evaluate whether a requested accommodation is “necessary” to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling and the impact of Henderson. I will also address the interactive process that housing providers should engage in upon receiving a reasonable accommodation request, including best practices for intake and documentation of requests, the permissible scope of inquiry into the nature of an individual’s disability and the nexus between the disability and the requested accommodation. I will then address recent state and local fair housing statutes and regulations that have addressed ESA requests.

BREAK | 2:30pm – 2:40pm ET

SESSION 3 – Defending Housing Providers in Assistance Animal Disputes: Investigations, Enforcement, and Litigation Strategy | 2:40pm – 3:20pm ET

Once an assistance animal dispute progresses beyond the accommodation request, defense counsel must protect the housing provider through investigations, administrative proceedings, and litigation while minimizing future exposure. This session examines practical defense strategies for representing landlords, cooperatives, condominium associations, and property managers after a complaint has been filed. Attendees will learn how to respond to HUD and state agency investigations, preserve privileged communications, evaluate evidentiary risks, prepare decision-makers for testimony, and strengthen internal policies to reduce repeat claims. The program emphasizes proactive counseling that positions housing providers for successful resolution while maintaining compliance with the Fair Housing Act.