Attorneys With 75 Years Combined Experience Fighting For Employee Rights.

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Lynne Bernabei

Headshot of Attorney Lynne Bernabei
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Lynne Bernabei has been litigating employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower cases for over thirty years. She is a founding partner of Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, where she handles claims of civil rights violations, and discrimination cases across the country. Although the practice focuses on cases in state and federal court in the Mid-Atlantic region, she has also litigated cases in New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Ms. Bernabei received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1972. In 1977, she received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Ms. Bernabei clerked for the Honorable William B. Bryant, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, from 1977-1978.

Ms. Bernabei has been selected for inclusion in all editions of The Best Lawyers In America since 2006 and in SuperLawyers from 2007 to the present. From 2002 onward, the Washingtonian magazine named Lynne Bernabei one of Best Attorneys in Washington, D.C. In April, 2004 the Legal Times Magazine named Lynne Bernabei one of top 12 Leading Labor & Employment Litigators in Washington, D.C. Ms. Bernabei has also been featured in an article that appeared in The City Paper in August of 1992, entitled “The Women to See,” and in the July/August, 1988 edition of The American Lawyer, entitled “Lynne Bernabei: In Tune with Whistle-Blowers.”

Ms. Bernabei has appeared on “Sixty Minutes,” and all other television news broadcasts, National Public Radio, and other national media outlets. She has also been quoted regularly by New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and National Law Journal.

Ms. Bernabei serves as a member of the editorial board of the Labor Law Journal and teaches Continuing Education Legal courses to the American Bar Association and other legal groups. Ms. Bernabei has been selected as a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and is an arbitrator on the National Roster of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”).

Areas of Practice

  • Claims of Civil Rights Violations
  • Discrimination
  • Employment
  • Contract Disputes

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court District of Maryland

Education

  • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
    • J.D. - 1977
    • Honors: cum laude
  • Harvard University
    • B.A. - 1972
    • Honors: magna cum laude

Published Works

  • NAVIGATING THE NUANCES OF SARBANES-OXLEY AND DODD-FRANK WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS
  • Lynne Bernabei, et al., “Ethical Duties and Standards in Disqualifying, Retaining, and Communicating with Expert Witnesses,” The Brief (American Bar Association), Nov. 2013
  • Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat, “Law firms Penalizing Departing Partners? – That Goes Straight to the Penalty Box!”, The Practical Lawyer, October 2015
  • Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat, “Invasions of privacy: Congress and state legislatures are properly barring employers’ demands for social-media passwords,” National Law Journal, July 23, 2012
  • Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat, “The SEC properly expanded protection for attorney whistleblowers,” National Law Journal, Aug. 9, 2011
  • Lynne Bernabei, Alan Kabat, and Jason Zuckerman, “Seven Questions for Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers to Ask,” The Practical Lawyer (ABA), October 2007, http://files.ali-cle.org/thumbs/datastorage/lacidoirep/articles/TPL1910_Bernabei-et-al_thumb.pdf
  • Journal of Employment Discrimination, Editorial Board
  • Labor Law Journal, Editorial Board
  • Whistleblowers and the Law, The Washington Lawyer, June, 2001
  • Lynne Bernabei: In Tune with Whistle-Blowers, The American Lawyer, July/August, 1988
  • The Women to See, The City Paper, August, 1992

Representative Cases

  • Successfully prosecuted major sex harassment and retaliation case on behalf of 11 employees against a large broadcaster. These cases led to enactment of New York State and New York City laws to protect unpaid interns from sex harassment and other forms of workplace discrimination.
  • Represented employees and managers in the financial and mortgage finance industries who blew the whistle on corporate illegalities, financial fraud, and other violations of federal laws.
  • Successful representation of female and male employees who have been sexually harassed or assaulted.
  • Successful representation of female and minority professors in tenure denial cases and termination cases across the country.
  • Representation of corporate executives in age discrimination and whistleblower cases, and negotiation of severance packages on behalf of corporate executives, including provisions relating to stock options.
  • Significant practice in representing government officials and employees who were retaliated against for having reported illegal conduct.

Classes/Seminars

  • American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Faculty Member
  • District of Columbia Bar, Teacher

Honors and Awards

  • The Best Lawyers In America, 2006-Present
  • Best Attorneys in Washington, D.C. by Washingtonian Magazine, 2002-Present
  • One of Top 12 Leading Labor & Employment Litigators, Washington, D.C. by Legal Times Magazine
  • One of Washington, D.C.'s Top 75 Lawyers by Washingtonian Magazine
  • One of Washington, D.C.'s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian Magazine
  • SuperLawyers

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Labor Law Journal, Member, Editorial Board
  • Journal of Employment Discrimination
  • American Bar Association, Member
  • College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Member
  • National Employment Lawyers Association, Member
  • American Arbitration Association ("AAA")

Past Employment Positions

  • Honorable William B. Bryant, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Clerk, 1977 to 1978