Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C. is representing approximately thirty plaintiffs in Smith et al v. the City of Philadelphia, 22-cv-5092, a purported class action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, challenging the City of Philadelphia’s so-called “courtesy towing” program.

On February 8, 2025, U.S. District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg denied the City’s motion to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit alleges that the City has, for years, relocated vehicles without providing notice to vehicle owners and without any coherent system for tracking where the vehicles have been relocated. Plaintiffs allege that the City’s vehicle relocation program leads to lost, ticketed, and impounded vehicles, through no fault of the vehicle owners, and violates their Fourth Amendment possessory rights in relation to their vehicles and their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights.

This ruling allows the plaintiffs’ claims to proceed to discovery and is an important step in the effort to hold the City accountable for policies that have impacted thousands of residents.

To learn more about the case and its implications, watch this video by CBS Philadelphia.

Updates for this case will be posted on our website.