Jones Day, responding to a gender bias lawsuit filed last week that accused the firm of maintaining a “fraternity” atmosphere and took aim at its “black box” compensation system, indicated through a handful of court filings Tuesday that it will ask a San Francisco state court to place case records under seal and alleged that the suit should not have been filed in light of the firm's partnership agreement.

Former Jones Day partner Wendy Moore, now a Perkins Coie partner in Palo Alto, filed the lawsuit as a representative action under California's Private Attorneys General Act. On behalf of herself and other “aggrieved” employees of the firm, Moore alleged that her former law firm violated California's equal pay law and the state's Labor Code through “systematic gender discrimination in compensation.” Her complaint accused the firm of operating “as a fraternity” that marginalizes women lawyers and treats them as “second-class citizens.”

Jones Day has not filed a direct response to the lawsuit's allegations and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the firm, representing itself with a team led by of counsel Robert Mittelstaedt, submitted filings that seek a hearing on whether the case records should be kept under seal in light of provisions in Jones Day's partnership agreement.

According to a brief in support of a motion to set a hearing, the seal is necessary—in part because, in the firm's view, Moore breached her partnership agreement just by filing her complaint. The Jones Day filings also noted that the case has received press attention and urged swift action on a motion to seal in light of that attention.

“The filing of the complaint violates the partnership agreement signed by the former partner in multiple respects,” Mittelstaedt wrote in the brief. “The litigation was accompanied by press coverage. … Given the high likelihood of harm, it is essential for the complaint to be sealed as soon as possible.”

Jones Day said it would file its formal motion to seal and San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn agreed to “conditionally” seal the records, at least until a hearing on July 24.

A lawyer representing Moore—David Sanford of Sanford Heisler Sharp—said in an email that Jones Day has sought to arbitrate the case. But according to Sanford, lawsuits that fall under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) clearly belong in state court.

“Jones Day certainly knows or should know that a PAGA claim filed in California state court properly belongs there and not in arbitration. Jones Day has served an arbitration demand and attempts to proceed in a way that is vexatious, costly and distracts from the litigation,” Sanford said. “A PAGA claim belongs in state court because it is brought in a representative capacity on behalf of the state of California. Every single California appellate court decision agrees.”

Beyond the Jones Day filings, another update emerged this week in a separate gender bias lawsuit in California—this one in San Francisco federal court against the labor and employment specialty law firm, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart.

That suit—in which the plaintiffs, led by former Ogletree nonequity shareholder Dawn Knepper, are also represented by Sanford and his firm—alleges that Ogletree maintains pay and promotion practices that are unequal along gender lines, with women getting short shrift.

Ogletree has rejected the allegations and said in a statement after a first amended complaint was filed in May that the firm would “confidently defend” itself in court and that it maintains a steadfast commitment to equal opportunity.

“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind—gender or otherwise. We take the allegations filed by former shareholders very seriously,” the firm's May statement said. “However, the decision-making process that governs our compensation system is both fair and equitable.”

On Monday, the plaintiffs sought to bulk up their allegations beyond what was in May's first amended complaint. That filing added three new women—former nonequity shareholders in Denver and Dallas—who opted into the proposed collective action. But a proposed second amended complaint filed Monday would add a former equity shareholder, Tracy Warren, who now practices alongside Knepper at Buchalter.

The recently-amended complaint alleges that, like the other women, Warren faced discrimination during her time at Ogletree. Warren also allegedly faced retaliation when she sought to speak up about what she saw as gender disparities. Among other alleged slights, the firm allegedly failed to give her full credit for client work she generated.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a federal judge presiding over the Ogletree case had yet to rule on a motion from the plaintiffs to formally file the second amended complaint.