In navigating career options, many law students find themselves torn between pursuing Biglaw or public interest. Within the public interest sector, it can seem as though you are constrained to only government or non-profit work. Though both settings can offer fulfilling opportunities for impactful work, public interest law is a broad field encompassing various avenues beyond government and non-profit contexts. 

One such avenue is plaintiff-side law. To shed more light on this area of practice I sought insights from attorneys Christine Webber, Partner and co-chair of the Employment & Civil Rights practice group at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Washington, D.C., and Lauren Barnes, Partner at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro in Boston, MA. Both Christine and Lauren have successful careers at their respective plaintiff-side firms and offered valuable perspectives on this field.

What practice do you specialize in? 

Christine: I focus on class and collective actions in the areas of employment discrimination, wage and hour, and housing, lending discrimination.

Lauren: Our Boston office does primarily healthcare-related work … I sue drug companies over their pricing practices, when we believe they’ve violated the antitrust laws.

Now, an important matter, generally what is plaintiff-side work? 

Christine: There is a wide variety of plaintiff-side work, because plaintiffs appear in a wide range of cases. Well, plaintiffs appear in every litigation, of course, but I think of plaintiff-side work as dedicated to representing those who otherwise would not be able to retain legal counsel – representing regular people, not big corporations, whether it’s in employment disputes, a variety of civil rights claims, consumer issues, securities fraud, or other types of disputes.

How did you find out about plaintiff-side work, and what drew you to the work? 

Christine: When I was in law school I thought doing civil rights work for plaintiffs would limit me to non-profit or government jobs, but the opportunities in private practice have really grown tremendously over the years. I went to law school hoping to be able to pursue discrimination class actions – I see race and sex discrimination in housing and employment as significant sources of structural discrimination in this country, and class action litigation as a powerful tool to change those entrenched systems. I feel lucky to participate in making these changes.

Lauren: I went to law school with the expectation of working with nonprofits and academics when I emerged, never thinking that litigating was for me. I didn’t think it fit my fairly conflict-avoidant personality. I was lucky to be introduced to my boss and mentor as I was applying to law school and when I decided to try out law firm life for a summer, I asked him for a job. All I knew at that point was that if I was going to “be a lawyer,” rather than working in academia or the like, I needed to be on the plaintiff side, fighting for those with less power.

What industries or topics does your work intersect with?

Christine: Most of my work has been in employment, though I’ve also done housing and lending discrimination cases.  One of the fun things about this work is that to do it, I end up learning a good bit about a huge variety of different jobs and industries, whether it be chicken processing plants, large retail establishments, insurance brokers, or a range of technology jobs.  If there are employees in the industry, there are going to be cases of employment discrimination or wage and hour law violations, so I get to see it all.

Lauren: Our firm covers a lot of industries. My partners have led cases against, for example, the tobacco industry, car manufacturers for defects that caused cars to accelerate with no foot on the gas or to spontaneously burst into flames, and the NCAA over the rules capping the value of scholarships for student-athletes and profits made off of their name and likeness. And within each industry, we cover a lot of disciplines. For example, our pharmaceutical cases, which is where I spend most of my time, involves examining patents, working with experts in various scientific fields, and lots of economics.

What do you enjoy about your work? 

Lauren: On a daily basis, I get to spend my time learning new things, strategizing on how to build our case, and figuring out how to solve problems, all in the service of work I deeply believe in and alongside people I like and respect. Are there tasks I have to deal with sometimes that I don’t like or days that I’m frustrated? Of course. There’s no job that doesn’t have that. But at the end of the day, I know I’m working on trying to right a wrong and hold those that committed it accountable. How lucky am I to have that as a guiding principle?

What have been some of your career highlights?

Christine: One of my favorite cases was Keepseagle v. USDA – we challenged discrimination in the farm loan program on behalf of Native American farmers and ranchers. Once again I ended up learning a lot about the most common type of farm/ranch operations our clients were engaged in and how the USDA Farm Loan program worked – another new industry to learn about. This case was filed in 2001, but addressed discrimination going back to 1981, when the Reagan Administration effectively shut down the office of civil rights at USDA, and stopped processing complaints – talk about entrenched, systemic discrimination! We litigated that case through to a settlement in 2011, and then, because there was no record of who had applied for loans, I managed a claims process, supervising six teams of 4-8 people who traveled the country setting up claims meetings in places where our class members could get to, and help them make their claims. The settlement was huge – $760 million! 

One of my favorite things during litigation was deposing the USDA’s statistical expert, and winning a lot of admissions for our statistical analysis (that’s almost always my favorite part of every case!) and showing how our statistical analysis supported a larger damages number. I also loved managing the claims process, because I got to spend time in rural areas I might not otherwise have seen, seeing where our clients lived and worked, and learning more about the challenges they faced. I definitely saw a host of issues in addition to USDA’s farm loan discrimination that our litigation didn’t address, including fractionation of ownership interests in land through the trust system that is a relic of the US’s claiming of land from the indigenous population, and then seeking to control those populations through a variety of measures. 

Even the most successful case doesn’t solve every problem. One of the saddest parts of the case was realizing how many potential claimants died before having the chance to submit their claim, especially when their families did not have the information they needed to submit a claim on behalf of the deceased. In part because of that, we had money left over after the claims were all paid. After several more years of negotiation, we were able to get approval to use that money to establish the Native American Agriculture Fund, and every year I am thrilled to see the long lasting impact they are bringing on behalf of Native Americans in agriculture.

Lauren: Many years ago, when Massachusetts instituted universal healthcare (before the ACA), we successfully challenged the exclusion of immigrants; the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sided with us, finding the exclusion from access to coverage unconstitutional as violating the equal protection principles of the Massachusetts Constitution. 

A few years ago, I helped recover more than $450 million for direct purchasers of a diabetes drug after we alleged that the brand and generic companies delayed sales of the less expensive generic version of the drug. I never would have thought I’d say I was lucky to sit on bankruptcy committees but I’ve been a member of the committees for each of the opioid manufacturers that’s declared bankruptcy, including Purdue, and that’s given me an incredible appreciation of the scope and many dimensions of the epidemic and how many are working to combat it. 

I’d be missing a critical piece of my career, though, if I didn’t mention my work with the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the national trial lawyers group dedicated to preserving access to the civil justice system for all, not just those with the most resources, and Public Justice, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization. I’ve spent thousands of hours over the years volunteering in these and other professional organizations that work to ensure the promise of equal justice for all. I find so much strength and hope working alongside colleagues from across the country who’ve dedicated their practices, varied as they are, to this work.

What skills are valuable in a plaintiff-side lawyer? 

Christine: A lot of the same litigation skills that any type of legal employer would look for of course – excellent research skills, strong analytical ability, good writing. But since there are always fewer of us than there are on the defense side, we also need people who can work efficiently, be smarter and more creative in order for our clients to prevail against defense-side resources.

Lauren: Creativity, organization, dedication, perseverance, a moral core.

Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for law students interested in working in, or learning about, this field?

Christine: There are more opportunities than you might think. It’s easier to find them when you focus by area of law. For example, if you’re interested in employment law, the National Employment Lawyers Association and their local affiliates is a great way to identify firms engaged in that work on behalf of employees. There are also organizations for consumer attorneys, and other practice areas. There are also broader organizations like the American Association for Justice (AAJ) that are composed entirely of plaintiffs’ lawyers and have sections addressing a variety of different legal niches. Those are great ways to find out who is practicing in the subject area and geographic area that interests you. 

Lauren: There is so much important, interesting work to be done, in so many fields, on behalf of consumers, patients, employees, victims—those without power generally. The issues to be tackled are structural and individual, big and small, making room for lots of hands to work together. There are far more opportunities to do work you’ll connect with on a daily basis—not just as a one-off pro bono case—and a whole community of plaintiff lawyers waiting to embrace and support you. Reach out to us; we love talking about what we do and finding ways to get more smart, dedicated people working towards a common goal. And get involved in organizations like Public Justice and AAJ, to connect you to so many others doing this work.

If you are interested in learning more about the work Christine and Lauren do feel free to explore their firm’s websites found here: Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLC.
Furthermore, if you are a BC Law student wanting to get involved in this field, I urge you to be on the lookout for BC Law’s newest club, the Plaintiffs’ Law Association (anticipated to start up in the Fall 2024 semester)! Feel free to reach out to me at colehc@bc.edu for additional club information ☺!

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Haley Cole is a first-year student at BC Law. Contact her at colehc@bc.edu.