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On Monday, October 30, 2023, Attorney Brian Bixby filed a discrimination and retaliation complaint against Burns & Levinson LLP, the firm where he works and where he served as a longtime Chair of the Private Client Group.

Mr. Bixby is a highly regarded and experienced estate and fiduciary litigation attorney. Although he had served as a Chair of the Private Client Group for many years, in July of 2020, the Burns & Levinson Managing Partner decided “it was time” for Mr. Bixby to be replaced by a younger partner. At the meeting where this was discussed, one member of the Firm’s Executive Committee speculated that Mr. Bixby “fears approaching retirement.” Despite the fact that he objected to being removed from this role, which he rightly viewed as a demotion, the Firm announced, falsely, that Mr. Bixby was “stepping down” as practice group chair.

Mr. Bixby tried to address his concerns internally. When that failed and the Firm learned that he would bring a complaint to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), the Firm said that it was “really not going to be good” for him if he did that and that “it really [was] folly to go down that path.” Since Mr. Bixby filed at the MCAD, the firm has retaliated in several ways, financially and otherwise.

 

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ZDB is proud to announce that Monica Shah has been named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers® for her work in Employment Law – Individuals in Boston. Congratulations to Monica for her great achievement!

 

“Lawyer of the Year” honors are awarded annually to only one lawyer per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers, making it an exceptional distinction.

Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP is proud to announce that the following attorneys are listed in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession and rates attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. Congratulations to all!

Inga S. Bernstein – Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Employment Law – Individuals, Litigation – Labor and Employment

David Duncan – Appellate Practice, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar.

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Awards Zalkind Law inaugural “Empowering Women” Award. As the publication writes, “Supporting women is not just a top priority at Boston’s Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein. It serves as the 13-lawyer firm’s core identity.” This award highlights the firm’s unique makeup as a women-owned, majority-women firm, as well as the work we have done for decades to advance women’s rights in the workplace and in academics. Read more here: https://masslawyersweekly.com/2023/07/31/empowering-women-2023/.

We are pleased to announce that seven of our attorneys have been selected to Boston Magazine’s List of Top Lawyers of 2022.

According to Boston Magazine, “to compile this extensive guide, Boston magazine (in partnership with DataJoe Research) invited lawyers in the area to nominate up to three of their peers in a select number of specialties. The top vote-getters in each specialty were then reviewed by an advisory board of select lawyers, chosen for their credentials and the high number of votes they received. Sort by name, town, or specialty to find the pro you need, and then let them do the hard work.”

Please join us in congratulating the following attorneys who have been selected as Top Lawyers in 2022!

We are pleased to announce that eight of our attorneys have been selected to the 2022 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list. We would also like to congratulate three of our attorneys for being selected to the 2022 Massachusetts Rising Stars list.

Super Lawyers rates outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Only up to 5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to the Super Lawyers list, and no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.

Please join us in congratulating the following attorneys who have been selected as “Super Lawyers” and “Rising Stars” this year!

Members of the law firm submitted comment today to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on its proposed regulations implementing Title IX. The comments focus on how the proposed regulations would properly expand protection against discrimination and harassment, but raised concerns about reduced procedural protections and procedural hurdles that might make Title IX proceedings less fair and less efficient than they should be. The full comments are available here.

We are pleased to announce that six of our attorneys have been selected to the Top Lawyers of 2021 list published by Boston Magazine. Boston Magazine invites lawyers in the area to nominate up to three of their peers in a select number of specialties. The top vote-getters in each specialty are then reviewed by an advisory board of select lawyers, chosen for their credentials and the high number of votes they received. Please join us in congratulating the following attorneys who have been selected as Top Lawyers this year.

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ZDB Attorneys Monica Shah and Caroline Davis are featured in the latest edition of the Boston Bar Journal’s point/counterpoint series. In “Tending the Garden: Two Perspectives on Reforming the Patient-Psychotherapist Privilege in Employment Discrimination Litigation,” Attorneys Shah and Davis propose additional protections for psychotherapy records of plaintiffs seeking emotional distress damages. Click here to read the full article.

Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP is proud to announce that the firm has been named in US News’ “Best Law Firms” for yet another year! This 2022 accolade ranks the firm as Metro Tier 1 in Criminal Defense – General Practice and Employment Law – Individuals; Metro Tier 2 in Education Law; and National Tier 3 in Criminal Defense – White Collar.

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