Jones Day (Photo by David Lat)
They are attacking two highly accomplished lawyers; it’s hard to believe that they aren’t excellent lawyers. It takes courage to bring this kind of lawsuit… To me, it’s clear that Jones Day has an illegal policy, and it’s a straightforward legal question….
I was surprised that they would be that aggressive. I sue a lot of companies and most are sensitive to optics….
This is on the higher scale of personal attacks, and it’s pretty rare. Most firms don’t do this kind of vitriolic attack on their former all-stars. Most would handle it discreetly because it can hurt recruiting.
I’d think twice about joining this kind of law firm.
— Peter Romer-Friedman, counsel at Outten & Golden, speaking to Vivia Chen of the Careerist about Jones Day’s PR tactics following the latest associate lawsuit against the firm. In the lawsuit former associates Julia Sheketoff and Mark Savignac allege the firm’s non-gender neutral parental leave policy is discriminatory, the firm’s black box compensation system results in unequal pay, and the firm has a practice of altering firm photos to make their women attorneys more “attractive,” which manifests itself in making them look more white. The firm’s response to the suit has been a full out attack of Sheketoff and Savignac, who were highly sought after Supreme Court clerks when they joined the firm. No word — yet — on how/if this strategy will impact the firm’s ability to lure more prestigious SCOTUS clerks to their ranks.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).