Gender Discrimination
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Biglaw
Equal Pay Pioneer Reflects On What It’s Like To Sue A Biglaw Firm
Kerrie Campbell thinks it's everyone's responsibility to challenge blatant inequality. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.18.18
* President Trump seems to be addicted to lawyers, and maybe someday he’ll be able to find another one like Michael Cohen who is “willing to sacrifice reputation, sanity, and perhaps a paycheck” to defend him. [Politico]
* Proskauer Rose and Jane Doe, the partner who sued the firm in a $50 million gender bias lawsuit, will be entering mediation to see if they can reach a settlement. At the same time, limited discovery will take place as to whether Doe is an “employee” under the anti-discrimination laws cited in the suit. [American Lawyer]
* Anthony Borges, a student who was shot five times while blocking a doorway to save other students during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has filed suit against Nikolas Cruz for for assault and battery. Perhaps we should be expecting more of these lawsuits in the future. [Sun Sentinel]
* Parents whose children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 have filed a defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones of Infowars. Jones responded to the lawsuit going on a 10-minute rant on his show about how his lawyers thought the suit was frivlous. [New York Times]
* Bonus season isn’t over yet — for staff members, that is. Mintz Levin recently awarded hundreds of its staff members with special bonuses to celebrate an increase in equity partner profits. [Big Law Business]
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Biglaw
Biglaw Firm To Pay Over $3 Million To Settle Pay Discrimination Case
The case has gone through many twists and turns, but is resolved at last.
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Courts
#MeToo, Judges, And Bias
We are in part what we've lived, and we can't change that, even when we take the bench. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.14.18
* “Plaintiffs’ claim to being the only ones in the world who can refer to players playing and haters hating is frivolous.” Taylor Swift has successfully shaken off an absurd copyright infringement lawsuit thanks to her lawyer’s player-hating. [THR, Esq. / Hollywood Reporter]
* President Trump has nominated 87 judges thus far, and of those nominees, 80 are white, five are Asian-American, one is Hispanic, and one is African-American. Trump’s nominees are 92 percent white, which “turns the clock back on years of work and effort that went into promoting judicial diversity.” [USA Today]
* Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! What better way for a law firm to celebrate the special occasion than to offer a free divorce? We may have more on this later. [UPI]
* Yesterday was the second anniversary of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, and [t]hanks to [his] disruption, the Supreme Court may never be the same.” Admirers, critics, and clerks share their memories of the man, the myth, the legend. [National Law Journal]
* Elizabeth Rose, a former employee of Vice Media, has filed a proposed class-action suit against the company, alleging that women were “systemically and intentionally” paid less than their male counterparts in violation of equal pay laws in New York and California, as well as in violation of the Equal Pay Act. [Los Angeles Times]
* Judge Sandra Townes, the first African-American woman to be appointed to the Eastern District of New York, has died of cancer at 73. RIP. [New York Law Journal]
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Biglaw
Biglaw Firm Uses Technology As A Defense In Discrimination Case
Those are some pretty explosive allegations. -
Labor / Employment, On The Job
White Conservative Dudes Sue Google For Gender And Race Discrimination
Can conservative white guys really sue for discrimination and harassment? Yup! -
Labor / Employment, On The Job
Sex And Biglaw: Why Do The Suits Keep Coming?
It’s no surprise that in the age of #MeToo, white male hegemony in Biglaw is being exposed, called out, and challenged. - Sponsored
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Biglaw
Am Law 100 Firm Hit With $300 Million Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
The complaint alleges women shareholders make ~$110,000 less than their male counterparts. -
Biglaw
Women Lawyers: Slowly Chipping Away At The Glass Ceiling
Kudos to the brave women lawyers who filed suit and are the instigators of change in the legal profession. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.09.17
Ed. note: In honor of Columbus Day (and Canadian Thanksgiving), Above the Law will be on a reduced publication schedule. We’ll be back in full force tomorrow.
* Justice Neil Gorsuch’s arrival as a member of the Supreme Court hasn’t been the most graceful, and word on the street is that some of his new colleagues on the bench may bear some ill will towards him. A rift might even be developing between Gorsuch and Chief Justice Roberts. [CNN]
* Because Gorsuch is the Supreme Court’s newest justice, he has to share his office with Leroy. He’s being hazed by Scalia from beyond the grave. [Associated Press]
* As part of its new legal strategy in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian election interference investigation, the Trump administration has decided to — gasp! — be cooperative. Trump’s lawyers think that maybe if they play nice, Mueller will publicly clear the president’s name a little more quickly, or at all. [New York Times]
* In other news, President Trump took to Twitter this weekend to invoke the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rules because he’s sick and tired of “unfunny” late-night TV hosts making fun of him without an opportunity to respond in kind. Perhaps you ought to stick with Twitter, Mr. President. [Fox News]
* Much like what happened with Traci Ribeiro’s case against Sedgwick, Winston & Strawn is trying to push Constance Ramos, a partner who left the firm amid allegations of gender bias and discrimination, into arbitration. [Am Law Daily]
* Lisa Bloom has been criticized left and right for taking on Harvey Weinstein as a client. Even her own mother, Gloria Allred, objected. Because mother knows best, Bloom resigned as counsel. Lanny Davis has also left the producer’s legal team. Down two lawyers, Weinstein was fired from his own company. [New York Times]
* A Michigan judge recently awarded joint legal custody and parenting time to a rape victim’s attacker. The child involved in this case is an 8-year-old boy, and the fellow who sexually assaulted his mother also happens to be a convicted sex offender. According to the victim’s attorney, “[t]his is insane”; she’s not wrong. [Detroit News]
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Biglaw
Winston & Strawn Is The Latest Biglaw Firm To Face A Gender Discrimination Lawsuit By A Former Partner
The former partner alleges she was as treated as "an appendage of a male superior." -
Biglaw
What's Next After Getting Publicly Fired By Your Biglaw Firm?
She's using her fight against Biglaw as motivation for the next step in her career.
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Biglaw
Another Biglaw Firm Gets Hit With A Class-Action Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Which firm got hit with a lawsuit now? -
Deaths, Labor / Employment, On The Job, Women's Issues
Managing My Expectations (And Reflecting On The Passing Of Herma Hill Kay)
The work of the late Herma Hill Kay, a crusader for gender equality in the legal profession, is far from done. -
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Gender, Law Professors
Law Professor Files Complaint Over Women-Only Screenings Of 'Wonder Woman'
There's apparently no justice for male fans of this Justice League member. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.22.17
* Joe Lieberman is senior counsel at Kasowitz Benson, one of President Donald Trump’s go-to law firms, and now that he’s considered to be a frontrunner for FBI director, someone has been desperately trying to edit the firm’s Wikipedia page to remove Trump from its list of notable clients. Gizmodo did some investigation as to who was trying to cover up the fact that Lieberman has a relationship with Trump’s longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. [Gizmodo]
* Now that Robert Mueller has been appointed as special counsel in the investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, the DOJ is exploring possible conflicts of interest with his former law firm, WilmerHale. Coincidentally, the firm represents former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, but its GC says Mueller had nothing to do with those matters. [Washington Post]
* “You ain’t going to impeach nobody. Try it and we will lynch all of you. You’ll be hanging from a tree.” Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump on the House floor last week, and now he’s being threatened. Green is unwilling to allow the racial hostility to deter him from doing the “right thing,” which he believes, in this case, means proceeding with impeachment proceedings against the president. [Houston Chronicle]
* Much has gone down in the $50 million Jane Doe/Proskauer gender discrimination case since we last checked in. It seems that one judge ruled that Doe need not be unmasked and may continue to use a pseudonym in her action against the firm, and another judge ordered that notes from Doe’s mediation with the firm be preserved, as she claims that a fellow partner allegedly threatened to fire her because of her complaints while there. [ABA Journal]
* “I’ve never known how many students didn’t come because of the old building. I’m quite certain that none came because of the old building.” Twenty years and $80 million dollars later, and the University of South Carolina School of Law finally has a shiny new building to show off that the administration is hoping will not only entice new students to enroll, but also increase its U.S. News law school ranking next year. The school is currently tied for 88th place. [Post and Courier]
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Biglaw, Partner Issues, Women's Issues
Inside The $50 Million Gender Discrimination Case A Partner Filed Against Proskauer Rose
So, what is really going on here? -
Biglaw, Partner Issues
Chadbourne Kicks Out Partner Suing Them Over Gender Discrimination
No matter what the firm says, they aren't finished dealing with Kerrie Campbell just yet.