Ivy Kagan Bierman

A veteran of the legal industry with well over 30 years of experience in her field, Bierman is one of Hollywood's go-to lawyers for everything from guild and union disputes to claims of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.

In a year where public scrutiny concerning the treatment of women in the workplace have dominated the headlines, particularly in the entertainment industry, Bierman has seen her practice flourish.

"The volume of work that I am now handling involving harassment and discrimination is significantly more as a result of the #MeToo movement and the efforts of Time's Up," she said.

Not only are companies and organizations turning to Bierman for help crafting sexual harassment policies, they're asking her to scrutinize their workplace cultures and their internal protocols for dealing with these issues, she said.

Recently, she represented Jill Soloway, the creator of the hit comedy series "Transparent," and her company Topple Production in connection with an investigation regarding alleged sexual misconduct by the show's former star, Jeffrey Tambor.

She was also hired by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be an expert with respect to misconduct allegations against the organization's president, John Bailey.

Both inquiries, which have both concluded, are models for how future claims like these can be handled, Bierman said, noting that both investigations were done by impartial third parties.

Bierman is also a member of the Legal, Legislative and Policy Committee on Sexual Harassment and Gender Parity for Time's Up. Bierman and other partners in her firm, including Diara Holmes, are outside advisers to the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace, a group chaired by Anita Hill.

She couldn't talk specifics of her work with the groups, but said that her years of investigating reports of harassment and work allows her to give both organizations, and other clients, a highly informed perspective on how to address harassment and discrimination issues.

In the union and guild arena, Bierman has negotiated several high-profile disputes on behalf of media and advertising clients with the Screen Actors Guild -- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

-- Nicolas Sonnenburg