Mary E. Alexander

Alexander said there were massive glass ceilings in the 1980s when she started her legal career.

"For job interviews, I'd be asked if I was engaged, other times they'd ask me what I was going to do about childcare, those kinds of questions that you probably wouldn't be asked of today," Alexander said. "This was long before I started my own practice."

At the time, Alexander said she made it clear she was committed to her career.

"'I can tell you that I am committed,'" Alexander would tell interviewers.

That lifelong commitment yielded an immensely successful career with hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments secured for wrongful death and personal injury victims. Most recently, Alexander was one of the liaison lead plaintiff counsel to secure a $32.7 million in settlement for injuries and deaths stemming from the December 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland. Ghost Ship fire claimants alleged the city knew unpermitted musical events and parties were held at the warehouse, and that the venue was a fire hazard. In re: Ghost Ship Fire litigation, RG16843631 (Ala. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 2016).

Alexander also represents a proposed class suing Princess Cruise Lines LTD for exposing passengers to COVID-19 aboard the Grand Princess, which docked at the port of San Francisco in March after a voyage to Hawaii was cut short. Robert Archer et al v. Carnival Corp., Princess Cruise Lines LTD 3:20CV02381 (C.D. Cal., filed April 8, 2020). Alexander is representing the passengers along with partner Elizabeth Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP and Gretchen Nelson of Nelson & Fraenkel LLP. The Archer case is in its pleading stages.

"When you have good ideas, make sure that you're heard," Alexander advised. "I'm fortunate to be able to help people and make a living at the same time. It's really important to me that we can make a difference in people's lives, those that were injured through no fault of their own. We take dangerous cars off the road, products that are unsafe and pharmaceuticals that injure people so as a profession it's an honor to make changes and see the differences we can make."

-- Gina Kim