Amy Bess -
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Published on: 8/5/2003
Last Visited: 8/5/2003
Amy L. Bess
Amy L. Bess, a partner with Sonnenschein, Nath, & Rosenthal in Washington, D.C., acts as legal consultant for BT.Novations.
Ms. Bess' employment litigation experience includes the representation of employers before state and federal courts, the National Association of Securities Dealers and administrative agencies, defending against claims of race, sex, disability and age discrimination, sexual harassment, whistle blowing, wrongful termination and wage and hour violations.She regularly counsels employer clients in these areas, negotiates and drafts severance agreements, conducts on-site workplace investigations and presents training seminars and speaks to employer groups on avoiding workplace problems.
Ms. Bess has first-chair bench trial, jury trial and arbitration experience and is regularly involved in mediations.She is experienced in the defense of complex class action litigation.Ms. Bess recently first-chaired the defense of a fraud and defamation suit brought by a former employee against a large international insurance company, in which the plaintiff had sought up to ten million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.Following a six-day jury trial, the judge granted the defense motion for a directed verdict, dismissing all of the plaintiff's claims.
In a recent NASD arbitration Ms. Bess first-chaired, she obtained a rare panel award of summary judgment in a wrongful termination/whistleblower action.In another arbitration, Ms. Bess obtained a complete defense award (including an assessment of forum fees against the plaintiff) in an action brought to collect disability benefits alleged to have been wrongfully withheld.
Ms. Bess is a member of the Bars of the State of Illinois and the District of Columbia, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, the District of Columbia and the District of Maryland.She is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Eighth Circuits.She is a member of the American Bar Association (Litigation and Labor and Employment Sections) and the DC Bar (Labor and Employment Section).
Ms. Bess is a member of the Firm's Labor and Employment practice group.She served as the Hiring Partner for the Firm's D.C. Office for four years, and was selected to serve on the Firm's Strategic Planning Committee and its Associate Development and Training Task Force.She presently serves as the D.C. Office representative on the firm-wide Legal Development Committee, which evaluates and recommends firm associates for promotion.She is active in the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia and the Greater Washington Board of Trade and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.Ms. Bess received her Bachelor of Science in 1982 from Illinois State University and her Juris Doctorate from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987.
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