Top Rated Employment & Labor Attorney in Philadelphia, PA

Honors/Awards:

• AV-Preeminent* rating from Martindale-Hubbell
• Fellow, Prestigious College of Labor & Employment Attorneys
• Honored, Alma Mater, Champions For Social Justice and Equality Award, Rutgers School of Law-Camden's Black Law Students Association
• Best Lawyers in America, 1995 - 2014
• Magna Cum Laude, Rutgers School of Law, Camden, 1976
• Rutgers Community Scholar, Rutgers School of Law – Camden, 1974
• Fellow, Summer Institute for the Study of Problems of Children and the Law, Professor Larry Palmer of the Rutgers School of Law – Camden, 1974
• Distinguished Faculty Member, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 1994

Bar/Professional Activity:

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
• Supreme Court of New Jersey
• Supreme Court of California
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• California – state and federal
• U.S. District Court of New Jersey
• United States District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania
• United States Supreme Court
• New Jersey – state and federal
• Pennsylvania – state and federal
• Co-Chair, Annual Convention Committee, National Employment Lawyer Association's, 2012
• Member, Hearing Committee, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Member, New Jersey Bar Association
• Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Former President, Women Organized Against Rape
• Former, Board of Directors, Disability Law Project
• National Employment Lawyers Association, Class Action and Sexual Harassment Committees
• American Bar Association
• California Bar Association
• Board of Directors, Defender Association of Philadelphia

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Past President, Women Organized Against Rape

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• Speaker, "Choosing Your Cases Wisely", Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, 2011
• Speaker, "Retaliation Litigation Hot Spots", Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, 2011
• Speaker, Moderator, "ERISA- Let There Be No Right Without A Remedy: Maximizing Recovery Under Section 510.", Annual Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association, 2011
• Speaker, "The Discovery Exchange: An interactive exchange designed to engage the panelist and audience in a fast-paced discussion about various discovery issues that arise in employment cases", Annual Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association, 2010
• Speaker, Pennsylvania Bar Institute 16th Annual Employment Law Institute. "You get What You Pay For: How to Successfully Challenge Releases Under the OWBPA in the Post-Guidant Era". 2010
• Speaker, Panel for the litigation track concerning the use of jury research, focus groups, shadow juries for litigation and ADR techniques, 2009
• "Employment Law Update 2006," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Allentown, Pa., Mechanicsburg, Pa. And Philadelphia, PA., 2006
• "The Santa Clara Experiment: A New Fee-Generating Model for Clinical Legal Education," Clinical Law Review, New York University School of Law/Association of American Law Schools/Clinical Legal Education Association, 1997
• "The Jury Charge in Sexual Harassment Cases – or You Can't Always Get What You Want," Pennsylvania Bar Institute 11th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2005
• "Preparing a Case on a Shoestring Budget: Your Friend Hal," We the People: Reclaiming the Justice System, National Employment Lawyers Association, 2005
• "Update and Recent Developments in the Law of Workplace Harassment," Pennsylvania Bar Institute 12th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2006 (with James A.A. Pabarue, Esq., Susan B. Thauer, Esq. and Andrea B. Wapner, Esq.)
• "Mixed Motive Cases – Finding the Line," Pennsylvania Bar Institute 13th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2007 (with James A.A. Pabarue, Esq.)
• "Trial Presentation Strategies That Work," Pennsylvania Bar Institute 14th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2008 (with Harold Goodman, Esq. and Ronald Surkin, Esq.)
• "It's Not Just White Men Anymore," Pennsylvania Bar Institute 14th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2008 (with James A.A. Pabarue, Esq.)

Verdicts/Settlements:

• $4 million verdict against the University of Pennsylvania on behalf of a former School of Dental Medicine faculty member
• $300,000 verdict for a client who was subjected to ethnic harassment; and with Greenblatt, Pierce, Engle, Funt & Flores criminal defense lawyer James Funt
• $2.5 million verdict on behalf of a sales manager who was sexually harassed at work

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• Ms. Pierce has been listed in Best Lawyers of America each year since 1995. She was recently named Employment Attorney of the Year for 2013.

Educational Background:

• Rutgers College of Arts and Sciences, Camden, B.A., Magna Cum Laude, 1973