Experienced, Skilled Attorney. Fierce Advocate.

I am a graduate of Barnard College and the Yale Law School.

After 27 years as head of Brill & Meisel’s employment group, I began a solo practice in May, 2021. While at Brill & Meisel, I counseled over 1200 individuals or employers in employment-related disputes, representing many in negotiations and, if settlement was not possible, in subsequent litigation or arbitration.  Although most of my cases settled before trial (including Cronas v. Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. a gender discrimination class action which settled for over $14 million) I have had several notable victories, including Gallegos v. Elite Model Management. In Gallegos, I represented a woman whose employer failed to accommodate her asthma by eliminating secondhand smoke in the workplace, while also creating a hostile work environment and finally terminating her when she complained. After an eight-week trial, the Gallegos jury awarded my client over $5.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

Prior to joining Brill & Meisel, I was the Director of Columbia University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, and was responsible for ensuring that the University was in compliance with all federal, state and local EO/AA laws and regulations. As part of this work I developed and implemented Columbia’s sexual harassment policies and programs. I also counseled many faculty, staff and students on harassment and discrimination issues.

While at Columbia, I was also an adjunct associate professor at Barnard College, teaching a colloquium for Political Science majors on Civil Rights and Liberties.

My earlier legal career includes two years as an associate at Proskauer Rose and several years at the New York State Department of Law (the Attorney General’s office), rising to a position as head of the Constitutional Litigation Group before I left to join Columbia. My most significant case in the AG’s office was Levittown v. Nyquist, a challenge to New York's educational finance system by several suburban, relatively property-poor school districts and four of the Big Five Cities.  I was one of two Assistant Attorneys General handling this case through the eight-month trial and Second Department appeal, leaving the Office after the briefs were filed. My other cases covered a variety of constitutional issues and included several United States Supreme Court certiorari petitions and arguments before the New York Court of Appeals (New York’s highest court) and the Second Circuit. 

Every year since 2010, I have been chosen as one of the New York Area’s Best Lawyers by New York Magazine and New York Law Journal, and a New York Area Super Lawyer in the New York Times Magazine. I also have an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

To find out about my work for the public and for my profession, visit my Community/Bar Service page.

To read about my publications and presentations on legal topics, visit my Publications/Presentations page.