Apalla U. Chopra

Chopra defends against class certification in traditional wage and hour and independent contractor claims and provides employment counseling to companies and educational institutions. She's become a go-to lawyer for Title IX investigations and follow-on litigation over how universities handle sexual assault allegations, an issue spreading widely among schools across the country.

And then there's the cat case. Chopra represents the California Institute of Technology, the defendant in ongoing litigation by a tenured professor who claims Caltech retaliated against her for reporting alleged wrongdoing by her former post-doctoral scholar. "She's a physics professor and she submitted a scientific abstract that listed her cat as the main author," Chopra said. "She used the cat's name, M. Pucci. Everybody thought it was an Italian person at first. Then it emerged it was a cat."

The professor, Sandra Troian, said the post-doc student got the research wrong, so she redid the work and used the cat's name as a placeholder on the abstract while looking for someone to substitute, Chopra explained. When Caltech investigated, Troian claimed it was a sham inquiry that was part of an alleged pattern of retaliation. "It's frustrating, because Caltech told her, 'Don't do that, we're Caltech, our reputation matters, please consider acknowledging your post-doc on the abstract,'" Chopra said. "Over that, no joke, we have been litigating. Some disputes you work through are serious and complex. Some you have to scratch your head over. It's part of what makes it fun. Now I'm an expert in feline litigation." Troian v. California Institute of Technology, BS152258 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 13, 2014).

More serious and typical are two recent cases. Chopra represents Harvard in a Title IX suit alleging that the school failed to respond appropriately to a student's sexual assault allegation. Leader v. Harvard University, 1:16-cv-10254 (D. Mass., filed Feb. 16, 2016). "The standard is deliberate indifference. Harvard's response was robust and textbook," Chopra said. "We just filed a motion to dismiss." She added, "There's been an explosion of regulatory oversight and litigation around this issue. It's part of a national dialogue about a change in focus to ensure that institutes of higher education have fair and equitable civil rights processes in place."

And Chopra is representing Claremont McKenna College in a writ proceeding and breach of contract litigation in which former students are challenging their expulsion after having been found responsible for violating the school's sexual misconduct policy. Doe v. Claremont McKenna College, BC615780 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 1, 2016). "Generally, there is deference to the institution. The court asks whether there was a fair trial," Chopra said. "The amount of litigation on sexual misconduct topics is unprecedented in my 25 years of practice."

— John Roemer