Excessive Force by Police or ICE: Building the Case Under § 1983 and the FTCA

Christian Contreras, Managing Attorney | Law Offices of Christian Contreras, PLC

Christian Contreras is a Los Angeles trial attorney, civil rights activist, and community advocate, and the principal and managing attorney of a multi-attorney plaintiff-side firm. His practice centers on civil rights cases involving constitutional rights and on wrongful death litigation, alongside personal injury work and a limited criminal defense docket. He carries an unusually heavy trial load — an average of at least seven jury trials each year — and maintains an active appellate practice.

• Education & Credentials 

Mr. Contreras earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he completed a Civil Litigation and Advocacy Concentration. During law school, he participated in the Scott Moot Court Honors Board and the Civil Rights Litigation Practicum and was a Young Lawyers Program participant and Change Lawyers Scholar.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Contreras is recognized as an expertin civil rights and appears regularly in prominent news outlets as a legal commentator on a range of legal topics. In 2024, the Daily Journal named his firm a top boutique in the State of California. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

• Professional Involvement

He sits on the boards of directors of Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities, the East Los Angeles College Foundation, the National Police Accountability Project, and Peoples College of Law, and serves as legal advisor to the League of United Latin American Citizens. He has also taught law and civil rights at several educational institutions, including the law school Peoples College of Law.

• Experience

His 2025 trial results include a $6,000,000 jury verdict in a police shooting case, a $3,300,000 jury verdict in a jail death case, and a $1,035,000 jury verdict in a second police shooting case — each of the three tried after a zero offer — together with an $8,500,000 settlement in a jail death case. He has prevailed on appeal before the Ninth Circuit and the California Court of Appeals. Firm results also listed on the source profile include a $25,000,000 civil rights recovery, a $2,836,800 street vendor verdict, and a $1,750,000 post-trial civil rights settlement.

Adam Wilson Fomby, Founding Partner | Borunda & Fomby PLLC

Adam Wilson Fomby is a founding partner of Borunda & Fomby PLLC, a Texas plaintiff-side firm, and focuses his practice on personal injury and complex civil litigation. His client base has ranged from large corporations to individuals who were wrongfully injured, and he has handled trials, hearings, depositions, appellate briefs, oral arguments, and a wide variety of other contested matters. He works across every stage of the litigation process, from the initial consultation through trial and appeal, in both Texas state and federal courts.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Fomby earned his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, where he served as Managing Editor of the Law Center’s energy and environmental law and policy journal, and he holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He is admitted to practice before the State Bar of Texas, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Fomby has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star each year since 2019, an honor awarded to fewer than 2.5% of Texas attorneys who are 40 years old or younger or who have been in practice for ten years or less. He is also a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an invitation-only distinction extended annually to approximately one-third of one percent of Texas attorneys and one of the highest honors conferred by the State Bar of Texas.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Fomby is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. His professional experience also includes serving as Managing Editor of the University of Houston Law Center’s energy and environmental law and policy journal.

• Experience

Mr. Fomby focuses his practice on personal injury and complex civil litigation, representing a diverse client base that has included both large corporations and individuals who have been wrongfully injured, and he has guided clients through every stage of the litigation process—from initial consultation through trial and appeal—in both Texas state and federal courts. His practice encompasses car and commercial truck collisions, workplace and offshore injuries, premises liability, product defect claims, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, burn and brain injuries, wrongful death, and other civil and commercial matters, and he has handled trials, hearings, depositions, appellate briefs, oral argument, and a wide range of other contested proceedings, with his cases frequently featured in news and media outlets.

SESSION 1 – Building the Excessive Force Case Against State and Local Officers After Barnes v. Felix | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session examines how to construct a winning § 1983 excessive force claim against state and local officers in the wake of Barnes v. Felix, 605 U.S. 73 (2025), which unanimously rejected the Fifth Circuit’s moment-of-threat doctrine and mandated a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis in every circuit. Attorneys will learn how to build the factual record under the expanded temporal framework, navigate the unresolved officer-created jeopardy question, and overcome qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage. Participants will leave with concrete strategies for discovery, expert retention, and pleading choices that reflect the current post-Barnes litigation landscape.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Suing Federal Agents Under the FTCA When Section 1983 Does Not Apply | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session examines the Federal Tort Claims Act as the primary—often the only—viable damages remedy when federal agents, including ICE and CBP officers, commit excessive force. Attorneys will learn how the Supreme Court’s June 2025 decisions in Martin v. United States and Goldey v. Fields have simultaneously expanded FTCA access and foreclosed Bivens, and how to navigate the procedural and substantive requirements that determine whether a claim survives. Attendees will leave with a working command of the SF-95 exhaustion process, the discretionary-function exception’s current scope, the law enforcement proviso’s pleading implications, and the tactical choices governing any parallel Bivens filing.