FordHarrison LLP, one of the country's largest management-side labor and employment law firms, is pleased to announce that Los Angeles-based attorney Michelle B. Abidoye has been appointed as Second Vice President for California Women Lawyers ("CWL") and Co-Chair of the Litigation Section for the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles ("WLALA"). Michelle was sworn in for her CWL post on September 11 and for her WLALA post on September 18 at the organizations' annual dinners.
Both CWL and WLALA are bar associations for women that focus on advancing women in the legal profession. CWL is the only statewide bar association for women in California. Since 1974, CWL has represented the interests of more than 30,000 women in all facets of the legal profession, influencing lawyers, educators, students and judges. As Second Vice President, Michelle will be organizing a January 2015 event to honor Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein when she retires from the California Court of Appeal. Justice Klein was the founding president of CWL and the co-founder and first president of National Association of Women Judges..
WLALA was established in 1919 and has been a powerful and respected advocate of women attorneys, women in general, persons of color, the disadvantaged, and the under-represented in Southern California. With nearly 1,000 members, its members are an integral part of the largest local women's bar association in California. As Co-Chair for the Litigation Section, Michelle will organize WLALA's annual Litigator's Forum to be held in March 2015.
Michelle represents clients in a variety of industries but has particular expertise in the healthcare and aviation industries. She serves as the chair for FordHarrison's Data Privacy International Practice Group and was honored in 2012 with the Promise Award given for excellence in client service. Michelle regularly advises clients on a variety of issues, including employee handbooks, best practices for disability accommodation, sexual harassment trainings, employee terminations, wage and hour compliance, and the drafting of employment, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. She also frequently writes and lectures on California and federal employment laws.