L. Chris Stewart, left, of Atlanta, Ben Crump, center, of Tallahassee, and S. Lee Merritt, right, of Philadelphia/courtesy photos

With Atlanta and cities around the country erupting in violent demonstrations over the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, attorneys representing their families have outlined what they see as a national way forward toward justice for all.

Federal legislation to create a uniform process of holding police accountable for deadly force—not just by termination, but with criminal prosecution, and United Nations representation for human rights and economic sanctions—are all part of a plan these lawyers are putting forward: L. Chris Stewart of Atlanta, S. Lee Merritt of Philadelphia, and Ben Crump of Tallahassee.

The lawyers joined together in a statement calling for congressional hearings on police brutality and racial violence, a national task force, and bipartisan legislation to change laws and ensure justice. They proposed ending qualified immunity for governments in such cases.

All three lawyers have represented a long list of families grieving the deaths of loved ones at the hands of police. Their client list keeps growing.

Crump represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager killed while walking home in 2012 by a member of a neighborhood watch group. He also represents the father of Ahmaud Arbery, killed in February. No arrests were made until May, when a video of the shooting went public showing a former police officer and district attorney investigator and his son confronting Arbery with guns as he jogged through their neighborhood.

Merritt represents Arbery's mother.

Crump and Merritt represent the family of Breonna Taylor, who was shot multiple times in her own bed when police broke into her apartment by mistake with a no-knock warrant.

Stewart is serving as local counsel for Merritt and the Arbery family. But he also has been in Minneapolis on behalf of the Floyd family. Stewart said Monday he is now representing the mother of Floyd's 6-year-old daughter. Stewart said he will "fight to make sure she gets justice for her dad," and that Floyd's death "will echo in eternity for change."

Also Monday, Stewart took on another new client in Atlanta: Taniyah Pilgrim, the Spelman College student seen on video over the weekend as police smashed her car windows, pulled her out and tased her. She was on a date with a Morehouse student, Messiah Young, who was also tased and pulled out of the car. They said they were going out to eat, not to the protest, when they were caught in the traffic.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Department Chief Erika Shields announced the firing of the officers the next day. Both students now have hired counsel.

Civil rights attorney Mawuli Mel Davis of Davis Bozeman Law Firm in Decatur is representing Young. At a joint news conference with Stewart and the students Monday, Davis said, "These children have been traumatized." Young also suffered a broken arm and 20 stitches from the incident, Davis said.

Pilgrim said she was held in a police van for three hours—without a protective mask—and never told why she was being detained. "If the cameras weren't right there, I don't know what would've happened," she said. The video captured her screams as police broke glass around her and pulled her out.

Stewart of Stewart Trial Attorneys in Atlanta stepped into the national spotlight in 2015 with another case that was largely defined by video of the incident at issue. Stewart negotiated a $6.5 million settlement with the city of North Charleston, South Carolina, for the family of Walter Scott, who was killed by a police officer. In that case, the officer blamed Scott for fighting over a taser. But the officer was arrested—and later pleaded guilty—after a video of the shooting was released on social media. The video showed Scott running away, and the officer shooting him in the back.

Stewart said he would be returning to Minneapolis Tuesday, where he, Crump and Merritt are still seeking arrests of the officers who stood by while their colleague held his knee onto Floyd's neck.

Stewart said they will continue to promote a national approach to ending police brutality and excessive force. He said the year 2020 "is about God trying to open people's eyes … closed for so long regarding civil rights and African Americans."