Stephen Pershing, a veteran civil rights litigator and law professor, has joined the law firm of Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, P.C. (KCNF) as Of Counsel. His practice will focus on representing employees in disputes with their employers.
“Steve has dedicated his life and career to advocating for marginalized communities and challenging racial and social injustice in our systems and institutions, and I could not be more thrilled that he has chosen to bring his experience and dedication to our firm,” said Elaine Fitch, managing partner for KCNF.
“I am delightedto be joining KCNF,” said Pershing. “I am looking forward to working with this group of talented attorneys and continuing to provide the best representation to clients sufferingdiscrimination in all aspects of their employment.”
From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, Pershingdeveloped and litigated civil rights and liberties cases as legal director of the Virginia ACLU and has served on its legal panel ever since. From 1996 to 2005, he was a senior attorney in the Civil Rights Division ofthe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), litigating for minority voting rights across the nation.After leaving the DOJ, Pershing served for four years as senior counsel at the Center for Constitutional Litigation, P.C., in Washington, D.C., a boutique firm aligned with the plaintiffs’ trial bar thatlitigates civil justice issues nationwide under the U.S. and state constitutions. Before joining KCNF, he had his own solo practice.
For more than 20 years, Pershing hastaught voting rights law as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School and has also taught law at the William & Mary Law School and American University’s Washington College of Law. From 2009 to 2011, he was the first full-time director of the UCDC Law Program, anintensive Washington semester program for the law schools of the University of California, and in 2011, he founded a similar program of his own as a nonprofit consortium of law schools.
Pershing received his undergraduatedegree from Harvard University and his lawdegree from the University of Virginia Law School, where he successfully sued his alma mater on behalf of student protesters under the First Amendment. He also served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Julian A. Cook, Jr., of the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.
About KCNF
For more than 47 years, the lawyers of Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, P.C. (KCNF) have represented clients in the U.S. and around the world in the most sensitive and complex labor and employment law matters. From individual claims to high-profile class actions and matters for large labor unions, KCNF’s attorneys are committed to protecting the rights of employees in the workplace and have dedicated their careers to doing so. For more information, visit www.kcnfdc.com.
