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Legislation Companies
Gender bias swimsuit towards Lewis Brisbois cites ‘sycophantic’ legal professional favoritism, ‘systemic enterprise deficiencies’
In line with a lawsuit filed final week, “systemic enterprise deficiencies” rooted in mismanagement at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith had a disparate impression on a feminine former associate suing the legislation agency for alleged bias. (Picture from Shutterstock)
“Systemic enterprise deficiencies” rooted in mismanagement at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith had a disparate impression on a feminine former associate suing the legislation agency for alleged bias, in line with a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Former associate Julie O’Dell alleged that feminine companions on the agency weren’t given acceptable compensation for rainmaking and for managing advanced instances. When O’Dell complained about “a number of deficiencies” with billing, accounting and agency administration, the agency retaliated by attempting to claw again compensation, the April 18 suit alleges.
“The agency maintained a sample and apply of discriminating towards feminine attorneys,” the swimsuit says, “together with, however not restricted to, telling females they need to smile extra, refusing to pay a bonus to females for taking maternity depart, and refusing to make sure females companions due to their household selections.”
The swimsuit says the billing issues included “tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} that went uninvoiced for legal professional work carried out, monies acquired that had not been utilized to consumer issues, and retainer charges which will haven’t been correctly credited and returned to shoppers.”
Reuters and Law360 have protection.
O’Dell’s swimsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior courtroom, follows a March 19 bias suit filed towards the agency by lawyer Robert Lofton. He had alleged that Lewis Brisbois discriminated towards him primarily based on his race and his “life-threatening well being situations.”
Each fits cited slurs and offensive language utilized by two companions who left Lewis Brisbois to begin a brand new agency in June 2023.
O’Dell started work at Lewis Brisbois in March 2019 and left on the finish of January 2023. She was “purportedly elevated” to fairness associate in January 2022, however she was by no means handled as a bona fide fairness associate, the swimsuit says. She was paid “considerably much less” than her male counterparts, regardless of producing extra income, billing extra hours and contributing extra to the agency’s advertising and marketing efforts, the swimsuit says.
O’Dell says she realized that Lewis Brisbois chairman and founding associate Robert “Bob” Lewis dominated decision-making and exercised whole management over fairness companions’ compensation.
“Plaintiff, along with different feminine attorneys equally located, have been handled in another way than sycophantic attorneys who ingratiated themselves with Mr. Lewis and his closest allies within the agency,” the swimsuit alleges.
“Upon info and perception,” the swimsuit says, “Bob Lewis awarded substantial factors to his relations and fairness companions with whom he both had a long-standing relationship and/or with whom he wished to engender continued loyalty to him, leading to these people being handled preferentially from different so-called fairness companions, together with plaintiff. Many of those most well-liked people have been male and acquired compensation grossly in extra of the revenues they generated for the legislation agency.”
The swimsuit alleges discrimination, retaliation, infliction of emotional misery, failure to reimburse enterprise bills and unfair enterprise practices.
Lewis Brisbois normal counsel Jana Lubert advised Reuters that the agency has filed an arbitration demand towards O’Dell as a result of she owes the agency “a big six-figure quantity.”
“We’re deeply disenchanted Ms. O’Dell is resorting to baseless gender discrimination towards Lewis Brisbois as a method of elevating her lawsuit and obfuscating her contractual obligations to Lewis Brisbois,” Lubert advised Reuters in an announcement.
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