Michelle Lee, Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe, to Speak at ABA Labor & Employment Conference

On March 21, 2024, Michelle Lee, partner at Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe LLP in San Francisco, will be a panelist at the American Bar Association (ABA) Labor & Employment Law 2024 Midwinter Meeting/National Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity Law in a session entitled “Suds and Substance:  Battles Over Privilege and the Impact of Increased Transparency.”  The conference is presented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee and is taking place at the Westin Copley in Boston, Massachusetts.

Session Overview

For the last decade, we have seen a rise in organizations conducting pay equity audits, workplace investigations and, more recently, there has been a trend toward civil rights audits, AI equity audits, and DEI best practices reviews – often in tandem with legal counsel under the protections of the attorney-client privilege.  However, stakeholders are placing pressure on organizations to be more transparent, which has resulted in many organizations wanting to publish high-level summaries of their internal audits and reviews while balancing the risks of waiver of the privilege. These internal audits and reviews are also targets for discovery in litigation, which often evoke claims of privilege not only of the results but also the attorney led business functions or processes used to generate those results. Panelists will engage in a discussion about the complexities and ramifications of attempting to balance the important, long-standing protections of the attorney-client privilege against the rewards of increased transparency and will share traps for the unwary, best practices and practical guidance.

More info can be found here.

About Michelle Lee

Michelle Lee joined the firm in 2014 to represent workers in both individual and class action cases, enforcing state and federal laws which protect workers who have been treated unfairly by their employers. Michelle specializes in a variety of employment law issues including wage theft, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, sexual assault, and trade secrets matters. Throughout her career, Michelle has successfully recovered millions of dollars in damages for her clients from some of the largest employers in California.

Michelle has tried complex cases in court and arbitration, including serving as second chair on the trial team in the landmark sex discrimination case Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins that highlighted the barriers facing women in venture capital and tech industries. She has also tried cases involving breach of contract, wrongful termination, and unpaid equity claims.

Michelle has been recognized as one of the Top Women Attorneys in Northern California by San Francisco Magazine, a Super Lawyer, and one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers in the United States. She is a frequent panelist and speaker about employment law issues, as well as her passion for combating bias and fostering diversity in the workplace. Michelle also serves on the Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the group that writes the Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions.  She was appointed to the Committee by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, along with a select group of judges and elite trial lawyers.

Before joining Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe, Michelle was an associate at a prominent national litigation firm, where she handled a wide array of complex cases ranging from intellectual property disputes to securities lawsuits.  Michelle also served as a law clerk for the Honorable William Alsup of the Northern District of California and as a law clerk at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Georgia.  Michelle graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School where she was an editor for the Michigan Journal of Law Reform. Michelle received her undergraduate degree in biology from Yale University.