As a Director in the Labor & Employment Group, Ms. Bissoon concentrates her practice on employment litigation and compliance counseling, representing clients in an array of industries ranging from higher education to heavy manufacturing.  She has first-chair jury trial experience in addition to extensive pretrial litigation experience.  Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Ms. Bissoon was a partner and the former firm-wide head of Employment Group at the law firm of Reed Smith LLP.  She also served as Reed Smith's Director of Diversity for several years earning accolades for her work in this area.

Areas of Focus:

• Representing unionized and non-unionized employers in a wide range of employment-related lawsuits in federal and state courts around the country, and before local, state and federal agencies
• Counseling and training clients concerning compliance with various state and federal laws governing employment
• Representing employers in traditional labor settings such as arbitration proceedings and contract negotiations

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Courts of Appeal for the Third, Fourth and Sixth Circuits

Education

• J.D. (National Hispanic Scholar), Harvard University, 1993
• B.A., Political Science (summa cum laude, valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and a National Hispanic Scholar), Alfred University, 1990
• Executive Education Leadership course work at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 2005-2006

Noteworthy

• Named Fellow of the Litigation Council of America (formerly the American Academy of Trial Counsel)
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (multiple years)
• Named a "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" by Philadelphia Magazine (multiple years)
• Listed in Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers (multiple years)
• Recognized as one of the top 50 lawyers in Pennsylvania under the age of 40, Pennsylvania Law Weekly
• Recognized for her contributions to diversity in the legal profession with a Multicultural Prism Award from Minorities in Business Magazine (2006)
• Selected by active judges of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and appointed by the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council of the Third Judicial Circuit (2006)
• Appointed to Local Rules Advisory Committee, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (2006)
• Appointed by Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as a member of Pennsylvania's Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness (2005)
• Recognized for her pro bono contributions by the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Gary L. Lancaster, United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Representative Matters

• Obtained summary judgment in a hard fought ADA/FMLA lawsuit by a professor against a higher education client
• Represented manufacturing employer in a hard-fought EEOC federal court class action alleging hostile work environment racial harassment
• Represented manufacturing employer in the successful trial of a gender discriminiation lawsuit in federal court
• Secured summary judgment for a financial services employer in a high-profile disability/race discrimination lawsuit involving a terminated executive
• Represented a prisoner on a pro bono basis in a Section 1983 trial, securing one of the largest verdicts for a prisoner in the Western District of Pennsylvania

Memberships

• Member, Allegheny County Bar Association
• Board Member, Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
• Board Member, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden
• Former Board Member, Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals
• Former Board Member, Girl Scouts Trillium Council (formerly Girl Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania)

Publications

• Author, "Ten Employment Law Tips for the New and Not-So-New Business," The Practical Lawyer