Hope B. Eastman

Hope B. Eastman, chair of the firm's Employment Law practice group, has more than 30 years of experience representing a variety of businesses, trade associations and nonprofit organizations. Her representation covers all areas of employment law, including age, gender, race, national origin and disability discrimination, sexual and other harassment, wage and hour matters and non-competition disputes. A significant portion of her practice involves litigation, representing employers before the EEOC, the OFCCP, the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, and in federal and state court.

Ms. Eastman's practice also focuses on helping employers develop regulatory-sensitive employment policies for recruitment, selection, promotion, discipline and termination of employees, and on evaluating and advising them with regard to major changes planned for their workforces. Throughout her career, she has been directly involved in the shaping of federal employment law, both before Congress and with the Executive Branch.

Active in a myriad of professional organizations, Ms. Eastman is the past President of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Employment Law Council (AELC), a national invitation-only organization for high-level management employment counsel, both in-house and outside. She is a member of the Governing Council of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section and a former Co-Chair of the Section's Committee on Equal Opportunity in the Profession. Ms. Eastman has held various jobs in the Section's Equal Opportunity Committee, most recently as Management Co-Chair of the National Liaison Division, working with the EEOC and the Departments of Labor and Justice on employment law issues. She continues to serve as a chapter editor for the supplements to BNA's Employment Discrimination Law and was the 2006 employment law columnist for the Washington Business Journal.

A number of prominent legal and local publications have recognized Ms. Eastman as one of leading attorneys in her field. She was selected by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top employment lawyers in the D.C. area. In addition to being listed in the 2006 and 2007 editions of Best Lawyers in America, she also appears in The International Who's Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers for 2006 and 2007, and the Maryland Super Lawyers for 2007. She has also been chosen as one of the Top 25 Women Lawyers in the state of Maryland and in 2006 was selected as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by The Daily Record,

A frequent speaker and trainer on employment law and litigation topics, Ms. Eastman has appeared on many ABA programs, including an ALI-ABA/PLI national satellite teleconference on sexual harassment litigation, and has been a regular speaker at the AELC's annual conference.

Ms. Eastman received her B.A. with Highest Honors from the University of California before graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Bars of Maryland, California and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice before various state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.

Representative Reported Cases

Baron v. Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., 201 F.3d 435 (4th Cir. 1999) (Fourth Circuit upheld summary judgment granted on behalf of defendant law firm in Americans with Disabilities Act case where plaintiff alleged discriminatory discharge, retaliatory discharge and abusive discharge claim);

Thomas v. Randolph Hills Nursing Ctr., 155 F.3d 561 (4th Cir. 1998) (Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment obtained on behalf of defendant nursing home in age discrimination case);

Enand v. Atlis Systems, 23 F.3d 400 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 955 (1994) (Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment obtained on behalf of information systems company in age discrimination case);

California Bankers Ass'n v. Schultz, 416 U.S. 21 (1974) (challenge to Bank Secrecy Act on behalf of bank customers, banks, bankers' associations and other organizations);

E.E.O.C. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 628 F.Supp. 1264 (N.D. Il. 1986) (successful defense of EEOC nationwide pattern or practice of sex discrimination suit);

Forcade v. Knight, 416 F.Supp. 1025 (D.C. 1976) (successful challenge on behalf of reporters denied admittance to White House press briefings);

Washington Post Co. v. Kleindienst, 494 F.2d 994 (D.C. Cir. 1974) (successful challenge in District Court to Bureau of Prison's ban on press interviews with inmates);

American Civil Liberties Union, Inc. v. Jennings, 366 F.Supp. 1041 (D.D.C. 1973) (successful challenge to Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 on behalf of organizations seeking to run political advertising);

Carlson v. Schlesinger, 364 F.Supp. 626 (D.D.C. 1973) (successful challenge to Air Force regulations unconstitutionally restricting right of petition);

McGlotten v. Connally, 338 F.Supp. 448 (D.D.C. 1972) (successful challenge to grant of tax benefits to organizations that exclude nonwhites as members);

A Quaker Action Group v. Morton, 460 F.2d 854 (D.C.Cir. 1971) (successful constitutional challenge involving two appeals to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia of Department of Interior Regulations setting numerical restrictions for gatherings in Lafayette Park and on the White House sidewalk).

Washington Business Journal Employment Law Columns