Deborah R. Willig Named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers

Willig, Williams & Davidson managing partner recognized among top attorneys fighting for workers’ rights

PHILADELPHIA (August 2023) – Pennsylvania labor, employment and workers’ compensation law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson is pleased to announce that managing partner Deborah R. Willig has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers guide. Attorneys featured in this guide are deemed by the publication Lawdragon as the most noteworthy advocates for civil rights and workers in the country.

Lawyers are selected by Lawdragon through extensive journalistic research and recommendations from peers in the industry. The selection process focuses on recent cases handled and victories and settlements won. Lawdragon reviews cutting-edge litigation as well as trends in civil rights and plaintiff employment law and highlights the lawyers to whom clients consistently turn to for guidance in those matters.

“These amazing lawyers make it their life’s work to stand up for others who are denied equal treatment, fired, harassed, or marginalized in their jobs; shot and killed or subjected to lesser mistreatment by law enforcement or others in positions of authority; and sexually abused and violated by those in positions of responsibility,” Lawdragon said in announcing the list. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – ensuring those rights for others is their job, and these 500 lawyers do it exceedingly well.”

A trailblazer in the Pennsylvania legal community, Willig has focused her career exclusively on labor and employment law. She advises and negotiates on behalf of labor unions whose members represent workers in such fields as education, public health, social services, emergency services, and the hospitality industry. Her notable accomplishments include working to secure the first-ever collective bargaining agreement for the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association and decades of leading collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of the unions that represent employees of the City of Philadelphia and the School District of Philadelphia.

In 2023, Willig received the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, which annually honors up to five women who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way for other women in the legal profession. Past honorees for this award include Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Professor Anita Hill, Judge Norma Shapiro, and Philadelphia attorney Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Liebenberg.

Willig led the way for women as leaders in the legal profession in the Philadelphia region; in 1992, she was elected the first female chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. She has been recognized for her work and advocacy with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Legal Intelligencer Lifetime Achievement Award, the Sandra Day O’Connor Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Philadelphia Business Journal Women of Distinction Award, the Labor Human Rights Award from the Jewish Labor Committee, and The Agent of Change Award from Women’s Way.

Willig also has been inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, one of the highest recognitions by a labor lawyer’s colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication, and excellence.

About Willig, Williams & Davidson – Willig, Williams & Davidson (www.wwdlaw.com) is one of the largest and most respected union-side labor law firms in the United States. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Jenkintown Pa., as well as Haddonfield, N.J., and Chicago, Ill. Founded in 1979, Willig, Williams & Davidson focuses on representing labor unions, employee benefit funds and individual working people and their families on a variety of legal fronts, including national, regional and local contract negotiations; election and campaign finance; dispute resolution through mediation, arbitration and litigation; family law matters; benefits law design and compliance issues; discrimination, overtime and unpaid wages, and other employment matters; prepaid legal services for union members; social security disability; and workers’ compensation matters in Philadelphia and beyond. Workers inspire us.

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