Constitutional Advocacy

The opinions expressed here are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of the LA Progressive.

Modern law is complex, interdependent, and constantly changing—a combination that all too easily lets the vulnerable and marginalized fall through the cracks. As a result, it often falls to expert lawyers to ensure that citizens’ rights remain protected as the laws around them evolve, whether through advice, advocacy, or litigation. This role becomes even more crucial when other entities like established large corporations or monied interests are trying to exert undue influence over the lives of vulnerable populations in potentially discriminatory ways.

For Ted Kittila, protecting people’s rights has been a career-long calling. As the Managing Partner of Halloran Farkas + Kittila LLP, an experienced litigator, and a longtime legal consultant, Kittila has served as lead counsel on a number of complex corporate and commercial disputes, spoken on legal ethics in international practice, and appeared in every court of the State of Delaware. Much of his work involves constitutional advocacy, public interest litigation, civil rights litigation, and other forms of pro-social legal work.

His commitment to equal protection and civil rights work continues to this day, as he takes the stand at the intersection of disability rights, equal protection, and constitutional advocacy to defend vulnerable populations from state overreach. Kittila has taken on cases against both the State of Delaware and the United States Federal Government to vindicate the rights of people that face discrimination, and he’s doing so again in his efforts to overturn assisted suicide laws in both New York and Delaware—a leading constitutional and disability rights issue.

“The rule of law, as imperfect as it is, is what gives our country its stability,” Kittila says. “People need the law to conduct business, to order their lives, and to reach reasonable resolutions when disputes arise. For me, the law is my profession. I am proud of the work that I do.”

A Long Legal Career

Ted Kittila has been practicing law for nearly 20 years, starting as a member of Delaware firm Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell, before later becoming a partner at the Pennsylvania-based firm Elliott Greenleaf. When Kittila made the decision to go independent in 2013, it was driven by a desire to establish a legacy of positive impact and representation, and to make sure the right cases were given the attention they deserved. He founded Greenhill Law Group that year, and in the thirteen intervening years he’s had no regrets.

“I’m proud of the firm that [my wife and I] have built together from scratch,” he says. “We started off with a card table in the family room, and grew to a firm with offices around the country. We have represented world leaders, large businesses, cutting edge start ups, massive pension funds, and thought leaders. My wife works as the law firm’s business manager, and we work together to provide the best possible bespoke legal services that can be provided.”

Kittila’s career has been defined by his willingness to go the extra mile for those in need, something emphasized in a key case where he had to interrupt his vacation to step in for a man and his business partner whose attorney suddenly had to pull out of the case. Trial was imminent, the man’s attorney pulled out at the last moment due to a conflict, and the other client followed suit due to bankruptcy the night before trial. Kittila had a mere five days to prepare for this, and entered the courtroom alone against a major league firm to do the cross-examination without the benefit of having taken the depositions, and without the partner’s attorney’s knowledge of the case.

“After three days at trial, the Court realized that it could not rule in favor of the other side,” Kittila recalls. “What the other side predicted was going to be a walk in the park suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. My client was saved. When I went out on my own and formed my firm, the first client that wanted to sign up with my new firm was that client.”

The Importance of Disability Rights

Disability rights are rapidly being recognized as significant influences in modern constitutional litigation, for a couple of key reasons. The first can be understood as a matter of statistics: disability is a broad category that every single person can fall under at any time, whether through circumstances of birth, sickness, tragic accident, or merely through aging. The second is related to the first, in that the role of legal equal protection principles, and how they relate to vulnerable individuals, is a consistent topic of discourse. When it comes to the intersection of disability and constitutional legitimacy, the legal landscape gets complicated.

Disability rights have been on the back foot in recent years as a result of a series of judicial, legal, and administrative changes that make equal protections possible and enforceable. Additionally, there are a number of laws that threaten the rights of disabled people, whether explicitly or by implication. Ted Kittila is currently serving as legal counsel in a case challenging these laws, a joint suit brought by the Institute for Patients’ Rights, Not Dead Yet, United Spinal Association, National Council On Independent Living, and more against the state of Delaware and its End-Of-Life Options Act—an assisted suicide law.

The suit alleges that that the legislation, which passed in 2025, implicitly sets up a two-tier system of medical care that pushes disabled people toward assisted suicide rather than treatment options and suicide prevention, which would violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the US Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and more. If the law encourages people with disabilities to consider suicide, and does not similarly do so for others without disabilities, then it may qualify as discrimination and a violation of disability rights.

“For too long, assisted suicide has been pitched as an act of mercy,” Kittila says. “For those in the disability community, it represents a real threat of continued discrimination. This lawsuit seeks to stop Delaware’s ill-considered law, which will cause real harm to people who need real help.”