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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 2019 accolade ranks the firm as Metro Tier 1 in three separate categories: Criminal Defense – General Practice, Criminal Defense – White Collar, and Employment – Individuals.

Firms included in the 2019 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

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Emma Quinn-Judge and Monica Shah recently won an employment discrimination appeal at the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The Appeals Court agreed with Attorneys Quinn-Judge and Shah that their client’s pay discrimination claim should not have been dismissed by the lower court after the defendant, the City of Boston, moved for summary judgment. Plaintiff presented evidence that the City had refused to provide a promised raise to the plaintiff, an African-American woman and a longtime public servant, after she spent nearly three years in her promoted position with substantially greater responsibilities, while at the same giving raises to another white manager.  As a result of this decision, their client will now be able to take her pay discrimination claim to trial.

Read the opinion here: https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/10/24/17P0343.pdf

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Top Women of Law honorees, including Zalkind Law’s Monica Shah, author letter to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (MLW) objecting the choice of a non-union Marriott hotel for tonight’s event. These attorneys urge MLW to sign the “One Job Should Be Enough Pledge” in support of hotel workers, especially those who are currently participating in union strikes across the country. Read the letter below.

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We are pleased to announce that five of our attorneys have been selected to the 2018 Massachusetts Super Lawyers List. We would also like to congratulate six of our attorneys for being selected to the 2018 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.

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Zalkind Law’s Naomi Shatz filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers’ Association (MELA) and other civil rights groups in Yee v. Massachusetts State Police, which was heard by the Supreme Judicial Court on Monday. The SJC is considering whether denial of a purportedly “lateral” job transfer can be considered an adverse action that violates anti-discrimination laws if done for discriminatory reasons. Attorney Shatz argued that the broad remedial purpose of Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination laws require employers to equally provide employment opportunities of all kinds to employees. In addition to MELA the coalition of groups submitting the brief included: Fair Employment Project, Inc., GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Greater Boston Legal Services, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, and the Union of Minority Neighborhoods.

Read the brief here: http://ma-appellatecourts.org/?pdf=SJC-12485_10_Amicus_Fair_Employment_Projection_Brief.pdf

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Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP is proud to announce that firm partners Norman Zalkind, David Duncan, Inga Bernstein, Emma Quinn-Judge, and Monica Shah, and of-counsel attorneys Elizabeth Lunt and Harvey Silverglate are listed in the 2019 edition of The 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!

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Zalkind Law’s David Russcol participated in a Wage Theft Legal Clinic yesterday through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. There were many people who had not been paid fairly by their employers. VLP and other community organizations are helping them get legal assistance. Thanks to the MA Attorney General’s Office and Suffolk University Law School for organizing and hosting!

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Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has chosen Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP partner Monica Shah as a Top Women in Law honoree.  The award celebrates outstanding achievements made by exceptional women lawyers who have made tremendous professional strides and demonstrated great accomplishments in the legal field and highlights women who are pioneers, educators, trailblazers, and role models.  On October 18, 2018, Monica and her fellow honorees will be recognized at the 2018 Top Women in Law event in Boston.Shah-headshot

Monica focuses her litigation practice on criminal defense, employment law, and Title IX matters.  She has successfully handled complicated and highly-contested cases from the initial stages of investigation and discovery through trial and appeals, including winning a nearly $10.9 million jury verdict on behalf of her client in a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the City of Boston.  In her criminal practice, she on the federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel to represent indigent federal defendants in the Boston federal district courts

Outside her firm work, Monica also commits to pro bono work for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston, and she co-chairs the Amicus Committee for the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association. She also serves as chairperson of the nominating committee and a member of the Board of Directors of Cradles to Crayons, a Boston-based organization that provides essential clothing, books, and toys for low-income children.

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Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has chosen Naomi Shatz as an Up and Coming Lawyer honoree as part of its 2018 Excellence in the Law event. The award celebrates rising stars in the legal community who have practiced for 10 years or less, but who have already distinguished themselves in their firm and practice. On May 10, 2018, Shatz and her fellow honorees will be recognized at the 2018 Excellence in the Law event in Boston.

At Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP, Shatz focuses on students’ rights, university discipline, and employee rights. She represents high school, college, and graduate students involved in disciplinary proceedings regarding claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and academic misconduct, and represents clients in criminal cases and employment matters. In 2016 and 2017 Shatz was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

Prior to joining Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP, Naomi was first a Skadden Fellow and then a staff attorney with Legal Momentum and New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), where she litigated civil rights cases on behalf of middle and high school students.

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ZDB’s Monica Shah and Emma Quinn-Judge filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Cato Institute and The Center on Administration of Criminal Law in CPCS v. Attorney General, a case involving egregious prosecutorial misconduct arising from chemist Sonja Farak’s mishandling of thousands of drug samples at the Amherst Drug Laboratory.  The brief supports the Petitioners’ request that the SJC remedy the systemic and widespread injustice arising from prosecutors’ failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, fraudulent statements to the courts, and failure to identify and notify thousands of wrongly convicted individuals by dismissing the convictions of all defendants whose samples were processed by the lab during Farak’s time and issuing monetary sanctions against the Attorney General’s Office and District Attorney’s Offices.  The brief also argues for the prevention of future prosecutorial misconduct against other defendants by ensuring that judges proactively hold prosecutors accountable through clearly defined Brady standing orders, strong sanctions for noncompliance, and mandatory reporting to disciplinary boards.  Read more about the case and download the full amicus brief here: https://www.cato.org/publications/legal-briefs/committee-public-counsel-services-v-attorney-general-massachusetts-mass

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