Three makes a trend. We now have three (3!) female Biglaw partners willing to take their firms to court over gender bias. My hat’s off to you all.
Law.com reports that a Chadbourne & Parke litigation partner, Kerrie Campbell, has filed a $100 million class action lawsuit against the firm on behalf of current and former female partners, alleging gender discrimination:
The suit alleges that female partners have been excluded from positions with decision-making authority, and are paid less and receive smaller bonuses than their male counterparts. According to Campbell’s attorneys, Chadbourne’s management committee is made up of five men, who make all pay and promotion decisions. Campbell alleges she was underpaid by $2.7 million.
“Chadbourne & Parke seems to be operating in the dark ages when it comes to gender equality,” lead counsel David Sanford said in a statement. “Chadbourne may talk a good game about treating its lawyers fairly and equally, but Ms. Campbell’s allegations show that at Chadbourne gender discrimination is standard operating procedure.”
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In a statement, Chadbourne said they supported the advancement of women and denied the allegations:
Ms. Campbell’s complaint against the firm is riddled with falsehoods and, once the facts are fully presented, the firm is confident that her allegations will be shown to be completely baseless.
There is plenty of time for the specifics to get hashed out in court, and no liability for any firm has been established yet, but the trend of these suits is really noteworthy.
To Campbell and the other women suing their firms: thank you for being willing to bear the brunt of these lawsuits. Most of the women I know who’ve spent any time working in Biglaw know in their heart, or at least strongly suspect, things just aren’t as “fair” for them as they are for their male colleagues. But amassing evidence of that, and being willing to take on the legal might of a Biglaw firm — potentially risking your own career in the process — well, that takes an awful lot of guts.
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I predict this is far from the last such lawsuit we’ll see in Biglaw. Hopefully, with enough of these, something will really change.
You can read the full complaint on the next page.
Chadbourne Hit With $100M Gender Bias Suit [Law.com]
Earlier: Biglaw Partner Files Class Action Lawsuit Over ‘Male-Dominated Culture’
Biglaw Partner Alleges Sexism Derailed Her Career In A New Lawsuit