Southern District of New York Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street. Photo: NYLJ/Rick Kopstein

Amy Miller, a former partner at Levi & Korsinsky in New York, sued the plaintiffs securities law firm for discrimination Tuesday, alleging she was underpaid, and ultimately fired, because of the name partners' flawed and antiquated beliefs about working mothers.

Miller, who is now of counsel at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, said Eduard Korsinsky promoted her to partner at the end of 2017 but never followed up on his promise to give her a raise, nor did he ever give her the "commissions" that certain male partners at the firm receive for winning big cases. Her bonuses were on par or lower than what a male associate received, she claimed in a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.

The firm's managing partners also made sexist remarks, Miller said. In May 2018, Korsinsky complained that it seemed "a third person"—Miller's husband—was driving her compensation negotiations and suggested he speak with her husband directly, the suit alleged. Joseph Levi, the firm's other managing partner, later that year compared Miller unfavorably to another woman partner who he said "knows her place," the lawsuit further alleged.

"Levi repeatedly told female attorneys, when they became mothers, that he believed that they should no longer work as attorneys, and instead should stay home to raise their babies," the suit said.

Miller's suit was filed against the firm and Levi and Korsinsky. They did not immediately return emails seeking comment.

The suit said Miller, an alumnus of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft who worked at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann and Grant & Eisenhofer, started at Levi & Korsinsky in August 2016. She said she made partner in December 2017 and was designated the head of the derivative department in the firm's New York office in March 2018.

Miller said she had several meetings with Korsinsky in 2018 where he made sexist statements and said he and Levi would have to review her department's profit and loss statements before reaching a decision. When she accused him of making sexist comments, Miller claims Korsinsky became "angry and annoyed" and said she could not see her department's financials.

Miller said as 2018 wore on, she tried to work out her comp details with Svetlana Mayzus, then the human resources director at the firm, but said Korsinsky wouldn't respond to Mayzus' efforts to resolve the problems. Korsinsky retaliated, taking Miller off a major case against Patriot National that was about to settle, and Levi told Miller at the end of 2018 that she would receive a $15,000 bonus, while one of her associates received $30,000, according to Miller's suit.

The suit claims Miller was kept on just long enough in 2019 to represent the firm at two oral arguments and was fired in March. She said she wasn't paid for unused vacation and wasn't given severance.

Samuel Maduegbuna, a partner at Maduegbuna Cooper who represents Miller, said he found his client's story to be "disturbing" and said the potential damages at stake exceed $1 million, based on the commissions and other compensation she was unfairly denied.

Levi & Korsinsky, which lists 24 lawyers on its website, is known for its prolific representation of plaintiffs in securities litigation. It files more securities suits, particularly suits challenging aspects of mergers and acquisitions, than nearly every other securities plaintiffs firm in the U.S.; in an 18-month period analyzed by Lex Machina, only the Securities and Exchange Commission filed more securities suits in federal court.

While several Big Law firms have been accused of sexism and gender-based pay disparities, Miller's action, which accuses her former firm of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other federal and state anti-discrimination laws, shows that such allegations aren't limited to the Am Law 200. Law.com and affiliate publications have previously reported on diversity issues faced by the plaintiffs' bar in California and Pennsylvania.