Patricia V. Pierce
The chair of the firm’s Employment and Complex Litigation Practice, Patricia V. Pierce represents individuals and groups of workers who have suffered discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Pat has litigated individual and class action employment and employee benefits matters in state and federal courts in California, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Pat is a frequent author and lecturer who is known for her skillful trial work. In addition to her active practice, Pat teaches trial advocacy for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, which named her as a distinguished faculty member.
Pat began her legal career with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where she represented indigent criminal defendants in matters ranging from retail theft to rape and attempted murder. She has remained committed to advocating for the rights of others, having represented victims of sexual assaults, police abuse, employment discrimination and civil rights violations.
Among her career highlights, Pat also secured a $2.5 million verdict on behalf of a sales manager who was sexually harassed at work; a $300,000 verdict for a client who was subjected to ethnic harassment; and a $4 million verdict against the University of Pennsylvania on behalf of a former School of Dental Medicine faculty member, among other notable verdicts and settlements.
“Best Lawyers in America” has listed Pat as one of the field’s top employment lawyers since 1995, and Philadelphia Magazine has included Pat as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer since 2004. Education - Rutgers School of Law - Camden, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, 1976
- Rutgers - Camden, B.A., Magna Cum Laude, 1973
Experience - Willig, Williams & Davidson, Partner, 1996-Present
- Santa Clara University School of Law, Visiting Professor, 1994-1996
- Law Offices of Patricia V. Pierce, Principal, 1984-1994
- Rudley, Bowe & Crummett, Associate, 1981-1983
- Defender Association of Philadelphia, Assistant Defender, 1976-1981
Court Admissions - Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1976
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1982
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1988
- United States Supreme Court, 1990
- U.S. District Court of New Jersey, 1997
- Supreme Court of California, 1995
- Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1997
Professional Affiliations - Defender Association of Philadelphia Board of Directors, 1996-Present
- Disability Law Project Board of Directors, 2002-2008
- National Employment Lawyers Association, Class Action and Sexual Harassment Committees, since 1995
- Women Organized Against Rape, 1983-1994, President 1991-1993
- American Bar Association, since 1996
- Pennsylvania Bar Association, since 1995
- New Jersey Bar Association, since 1997
- California Bar Association, since 1995
Honors - Best Lawyers in America, 1995-2010
- Distinguished Faculty Member, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 1994
- Fellow, Summer Institute for the Study of Problems of Children and the Law, Professor Larry Palmer of the Rutgers School of Law – Camden, 1974
- Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, Philadelphia Magazine, 2004-2010
- Rutgers Community Scholar, Rutgers School of Law – Camden, 1974
Publications - “It’s Not Just White Men Anymore,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute 14th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2008 (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.)
- “Mixed Motive Cases – Finding the Line,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute 13th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, 2007 (with James A.A. Pabarue, Esq.)
- “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.)
- “Preparing a Case on a Shoestring Budget: Your Friend Hal,” We the People: Reclaiming the Justice System, National Employment Lawyers Association, 2005
- “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
- “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
Speaking Engagements Speaker, 2010 Annual Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association. "The Discovery Exhange: An interactive exchange desgined to engage the panelist and audience in a fast-paced discussion about various discovery issues that arise in employment cases"., 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 on a 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
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