July 17, 2023
The National Law Journal recently recognized Joseph Sellers, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll co-chair of the firm’s civil rights & employment practice, with the Elite Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award. He sat down with NLJ to discuss some of his career milestones as well as concerns he has for the future of civil rights in the United States.
When asked about the priorities he has set as a co-chair of the civil rights and employment practice, he said, “We view ourselves as something of a private attorney general. We try to take on matters of public importance that serve our clients’ interests as well as places where the federal, state or local enforcement efforts haven’t worked as well.
We are always looking for ways to continue to expand our availability to serve the people most needy.
With regard to discrimination claims, most of our clients can’t afford our legal services, and as a result we are only compensated when our clients’ cases are resolved successfully and we’re able to recover attorney fees. While our practice was originally focused exclusively on the area of employment discrimination, and that continues to be a major focus of our work, we have expanded our practice to assist clients denied equal access to credit and housing as well as those denied payment for all time worked, in violation of the wage and hour laws.”
Read the interview at ‘Civil Rights Law Protects Everybody’: Joseph Sellers on His Fight For the Disenfranchised.