Lynne C. Hermle

When it comes to an employment defense practice like Hermle’s, it’s impossible to avoid the pervasion of lawsuits and complaints about sexual harassment spurred by the #MeToo movement.

For Hermle, a defense attorney who has strung together high-profile wins stretching back to the heavily publicized Ellen Pao trial in 2015, the spotlight has never been brighter for her clients.

“It is hard for me to think of a moment when the issues we work on with our clients have been more at the forefront of very deep public conversation, including across industries,” she said.

And while many companies are taking immediate steps to alleviate any issues, she added that these movements come with an inbuilt risk due to their publicity.

“The conversation, while fascinating in terms of policy, and I think it’s going to be very interesting in the litigation context, has been tragic in some sense, because there’s been a lot of acceptance of allegations that are decades old,” she said.

“I’m fortunate to have clients who are really focused on doing the right thing whether it’s pay equity or sex harassment investigation, and there’s a lot of emphasis on making sure policies are updated, training is done carefully, and audits are done to ensure equitable compensation,” she said.

Some of Hermle’s clients have been venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and technology leader Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX. She has successfully defended the latter in two separate trials in the past two years. The latter was against noted plaintiffs’ attorney Carney Shegerian, who she will clash with again this summer defending Apple Inc. against claims brought by a former in-house counsel. Levitan v. Apple Inc. et al., BC622413 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 1, 2016).

One change Hermle has noticed with the growth of public involvement in harassment claims is a consumer reaction, which motivates boards and investors to seek her advice.

“I think that the conversation is so broad and so public, and we’re seeing customer reactions to allegations after media reports, that it creates incentives for boards to make sure they’re doing what they need to be doing,” she said. “I’m seeing boards of directors and investors reaching out and asking what are their responsibilities and potential liabilities for claims.

“Everyone is taking the environment and the allegations very seriously. There isn’t a company that I know of that isn’t.”

— Andy Serbe