Khorrami Pollard & Abir LLP Builds its Practice and Contributes to the Plaintiff Law Profession Through Investment in Opportunities for Women

Khorrami Pollard & Abir LLP (KPA), a national law firm representing plaintiffs, is expanding its support for the professional development of women in the legal field with activities including participation in professional working groups addressing diversity and women's issues, sponsorship of women's caucus receptions and contributions to professional publications.

For KPA, advocacy for women in the legal profession begins with attracting and retaining talent -- more than 60 percent of KPA's lawyers are women. "While women have made significant advances in the legal community, we believe that they are still underrepresented, particularly among plaintiff lawyers," said Shawn Khorrami, founding partner of KPA. "In addition to helping recruit more women to represent consumers, we are investing even more time, expertise and resources in creating and supporting leadership opportunities for women that advance the profession overall."

Key KPA initiatives under way include:

Active participation and leadership roles in professional organizations addressing diversity and women's issues.

• Partner Shawn Khorrami serving as an at-large member for the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Diversity Taskforce, as well as a Delegate for the AAJ Minority Caucus.
• Attorney Maryam Danishwar serving on the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Domestic Violence Project.
• Attorney Bahar Dejban participating on the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) Women's Caucus Committee.

Support of networking and development opportunities for women:

• For the second year running, KPA is sponsoring the Women's Caucus Reception at the CAOC Annual Convention in San Francisco being held Nov. 12-15, 2009.
• KPA is hosting the Women's Caucus Brunch and Minority Caucus Reception at the AAJ Winter Convention in Maui, HI, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2010.
• KPA will also host the Women's Caucus Brunch and Minority Caucus Reception at the AAJ Annual Convention 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 10 - Jul 14, 2010.
• KPA hosted the joint CAOC and CAALA Women's Caucus Reception in Los Angeles, Sept. 23, 2009.
• KPA recently sponsored the Women's Caucus Reception at the AAJ Annual Convention in San Francisco, July 25-29, 2009.
• KPA served as the host for the AAJ Women Trial Lawyers Caucus Lobby Day Dinner in Washington, May 20, 2009.

Thought leadership focused on publishing in professional journals and online communities.

• "In Wyeth, Supreme Court Could Define Implied Federal Preemption," by Deborah Gutierrez, CAALA's Advocate Magazine, February 2009, and Lawdragon.com.
• "Effective Use of Objections in Responding to Interrogatories," by Lourdes DeArmas, CAALA's Advocate Magazine, July 2009.
• "Post-Claim Underwriting: California's Dirty Secret," Lourdes DeArmas, Law360.com, Aug. 14, 2009.

About KPA

In the past five years, Khorrami Pollard & Abir LLP has obtained more than $400 million in verdicts and settlements for clients throughout the U.S. from companies including Yahoo!, Coca-Cola, Eli Lily and Merck.

As one of the largest plaintiff-only firms in the nation, KPA currently represents tens of thousands of individuals, and handles class actions covering millions of class members, in a variety of cases - including class actions, mass torts, pharmaceuticals, consumer fraud, labor and employment matters, product liability, natural disasters and toxic torts.