Kirkland & Ellis offices in Washington, D.C. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM 'Delete?': Ex-Kirkland & Ellis Attorney Leaves Notes in Gender Discrimination Complaint Against Law Firm
Members of Legal Twitter said they were going to have nightmares and "secondhand panic" after a pro se litigant left behind comments on a discrimination complaint against Kirkland & Ellis.
October 14, 2022 at 05:17 PM
4 minute read
The story has been updated with a comment from Kirkland & Ellis.
An intellectual property litigator suing Kirkland & Ellis for discrimination and harassment left comments in her pro se legal complaint against the firm, noting perceived weaknesses in the arguments.
Former San Francisco-based Kirkland associate Zoya Kovalenko claims partners Adam Alper and Michael De Vries "led a discriminatory cadre of Kirkland's IP litigation group." Kovalenko said sex-based discrimination at the firm led to "an alarmingly high turnover" of female associates. Seven female associates who worked for the named defendants, which also include partners Akshay Deoras, Leslie Schmidt and Mark Fahey, left during Kovalenko's tenure, according to the 130-page complaint.
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