Avoiding Gender Discrimination Claims by Attorneys in the Legal Workplace
1h 1m
Created on March 08, 2021
Intermediate
Course Price
$79
- Instant Certificate Upon Completion
- Mobile, Desktop and Laptop Access
- Money-Back Guarantee
Overview
For many years, women have graduated from law school in numbers equal to men, but have lagged far behind men in promotions to partnership and selection for positions of leadership. Many female attorneys also report being subjected to harassment. When their complaints have not resulted in change, some women have pursued litigation to secure the compensation and promotions to which they believe they are entitled, including high profile cases against some of the most prominent Biglaw firms.
In addition to violating substantive anti-discrimination laws, in 2018, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct were amended to add that discrimination in the practice of law also constitutes professional misconduct under Rule 8.4, so that attorneys found to have violated non-discrimination laws may face professional conduct investigations as well.
This program will examine the facts alleged in some recent and ongoing cases against law firms to identify lessons from these cases for law firms and attorneys.
This program will benefit employment law attorneys and law firm leaders.
Learning Objectives:
- Review the statistics on women lawyers in private firms
- Identify the key statutory provisions that protect women from discrimination in the workplace
- Discuss the facts of key cases by women lawyers against law firms alleging employment discrimination and the legal theories on which they have relied on
- Explore law firm best practices to avoid discrimination claims by women lawyers and how to avoid common mistakes
Credits
Faculty
Hope A. Comisky
Member | Comisky Law LLC
Hope is a top-ranked employment attorney and an experienced arbiter with more than thirty-five years of employment and litigation experience. She counsels clients on employment issues, provides training to managers and staff and offers strategic advice on employment litigation matters. Furthermore, Hope has extensive experience arbitrating and mediating employment and commercial disputes as a member of the American Arbitration Association’s panel of arbitrators, and as appointed under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is also a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a member of its selection committee for the Third Circuit.
Hope has been regularly recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers for her work in employment law. Notably, she was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for Labor and Employment in Philadelphia.
Hope is also a frequent lecturer and author on employment law and professional responsibility topics. Hope has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, teaching professional responsibility seminars. She has also spoken at the Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute for many years, lecturing on various topics including sexual harassment, defamation in the employment context and tort claims arising from employee terminations. In addition, she has published several articles for the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.
Hope received her B.A. from Cornell University and J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After law school, Hope was a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph L. McGlynn, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Bar Admissions:
· District of Columbia
· New York
· Pennsylvania
· Supreme Court of the United States
· U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
· U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
· U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
· U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
· U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
· U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Reviews
Recent Reviews
Great case studies.
Very good course!
Fantastic course. Would love more courses by this instructor!
Great presentation. I would love to see more.
Very good presentation by an experienced practitioner on the law regarding situations arising from the sort of gender discrimination that still goes on at law firms, in-house and governmental legal departments despite decades of changes in our larger society and on-point legal decisions. When I was a young woman lawyer in the litigation department of a medium-size Los Angeles law firm in the late 1980's, just about every issue raised in this presentation was happening and going unaddressed. Although the Family and Medical Leave Act had not yet been enacted, a young male lawyer who asked for leave to spend time with his newborn was denied out-of-hand, as that was considered something no male attorney needed. Even today, some firms would handle that request exactly as it was handled then.
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