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TESTIMONIALS
Dear Phil
David Z., MD
Our story was one of epic, even "biblical" proportions — much of it took place in Israel. Before I left, I went on a trip around the small country with my parents and I found this winery in the Golan Heights, the site of a number of important battles in the history of Israel. This bottle is from that winery. I hope that you enjoy it and drink to life with your wife, l'chaim. I also got you my favorite Halvah from the Tel Aviv Shuk. It's a delicious Middle Eastern dessert made of sesame paste and sugar, and this one is seasoned with cardamom.
Let this small gift serve as a token of my huge gratitude to you for standing with me side-by-side against a nefarious cultural force — a new McCarthyism — that is persecuting many young men these days. When the history books are written, people like you and I (but especially you) will go down as the heroes.
You've certainly pulled me from despair several times with your sober-mindedness. It's not easy, after all, to sift through hours of recordings in which your professors and deans discuss ending your career, slap false psychiatric diagnoses onto you, or read dozens of emails in which blatant lies and defamation are thrown at you. (It wasn't even easy obtaining this material, let alone in English, if you recall).
The accusers, investigators, faculty, and prosecutors wanted to overwhelm us with their repetitive, defamatory content, and perhaps lesser men would have been overwhelmed if they were standing in my shoes.
But not us... we mopped the floor with them. And, minus some ridiculous political machinations on the part of the panels, we unequivocally won.
Regarding the dismissed action in SDNY: this was disappointing. My parents, as immigrants, viewed a victory here as their contribution to justice in America. Interestingly, though, had my case happened in a proper American medical school inside of America, I would have probably been expelled outright; and while we would have subsequently won in the courts after years of hard battle, I would have never become a practicing physician.
But Winston Churchill said: "Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." And without your expertise and steadfast friendship, I wouldn't be here continuing my career.
Dear Phil
Doe v Purdue client
Words like integrity and honorable are thrown around loosely these days, but it is indeed rare to meet a true embodiment of such ideals. Phil has my absolute respect as a lawyer, and my trust and devotion as a friend.
I will begin with some background. I grew up in a large suburban Indiana family and dreamed in high school of serving my country as a Navy SEAL. After narrowly missing acceptance to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, I decided to join the NROTC unit at Purdue University under a full ride scholarship - I could still achieve my dream this way, as the outcome going this route was much the same. This dream became short lived, however, near the end of my first year there. An ex-girlfriend from my same unit went to our Naval officers and reported false allegations, including sexual allegations, that held no merit or proof. My Navy officers reported what they heard to the university, who then launched an investigation focused on the sexual allegations using malicious and disingenuous tactics. I was presumed guilty from the start and was treated as such, and was thrown out on suspension after a charade of an investigation in which they blatantly lied about me many times over. The suspension not only cost me my scholarship, but my Naval career, my friends and relationships, my mental and physical wellbeing, and ultimately my dream. I was permanently stigmatized from any federal or military position and spent the better part of the next 8 years just getting back on my feet. If it had not been for Phil and my family, I’m not sure that I would have ever recovered at all.
For more reasons than can be reasonably put here, I can easily and confidently say that Phil Byler is one of the few great lawyers alive today. Without the rare caliber of this man, I would have never made it as far as I have. He has firmly guided me in this fight against Purdue University against ALL odds. The first judge throwing my case away turned out to be a blessing in disguise, for the appeals process was assigned to then circuit judge (now Supreme Court Justice) Amy Coney Barrett, and 2 other women judges. After seeing how unjustly I was treated at Purdue, they unanimously sided with me and allowed my 2 claims to proceed. This ruling transformed Doe v Purdue into national precedent for Title IX and university due process proceedings, and was cited as a key point in then Secretary of Education Betsy Devos’ reformed Title IX guidelines. It is statistically the most cited Title IX case in the entire nation and the most influential legal case of its kind. The work and results of Philip A. Byler were essential to making this possible, and I give him full credit.
Unfortunately, due to the political nature my case took on as a result of its ruling at the 7th Circuit, the legal process has been corrupted and the justice system subverted by bad actors in the latter half of this fight. In spite of this, Phil has maintained a fantastic level of work output and integrity, and has NOT ONCE faltered in his duties as my legal counsel in all of 8 years. Regardless of my case’s outcome, there is no one I would rather have representing me through this than Phil. He is not only my lawyer, but my friend. To say that he has exceeded the requirements of his capacity as my counsel would be a severe understatement. This man will stop at NOTHING to ensure that you receive the best possible chances of winning; without hesitation he left his law firm of 20 years with no backup plan after partners at the firm tried to strong-arm my case from me. I truly believe the flames of fearlessness within this man are stoked by God himself.
I further witnessed the extent of his commitment firsthand when he flew in to my city for an in-person pre-trial hearing on extremely short notice with near impossible deadlines imposed by a judge corrupted to the highest level, and this man stood before me with his physical health and wellbeing severely compromised - before finally conceding at the behest of his doctors that the litigation schedule would have to be moved. He is back on track now and I don’t think his astute wife will ever let what happened happen again.
I fully support Phil’s intention to continue his legal practice for another 10 years, if not more. The lengths this man will go to just to ensure that proper legal representation of the highest standards are met, is unmatched. His extensive Title IX and due process expertise wins cases, and his devotion for justice is unmatched by all other lawyers as far as I'm concerned. I am thankful to God and my parents for helping me find this warrior when I was just an innocent young man in need, and I would never have made it this far without him. Thank you Phil.