Joan Ackerstein is a Partner in the Boston office of Jackson Lewis LLP and serves as the firm's National Director of Litigation. She managed the Boston office’s litigation practice for 20 years, through 2006, and is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. She concentrates her practice in employment litigation and counseling employers on the full range of workplace issues.
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Ms. Ackerstein's litigation practice includes the defense of employers in single and multi-plaintiff actions in state and federal courts and in administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, on claims of discrimination (gender, race, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation), sexual harassment, breach of contract, retaliation, violations of whistleblower protections and wage/hour laws, and wrongful discharge and related tort claims (invasion of privacy, defamation, interference with advantageous relations, misrepresentation, fraud and civil conspiracy).
In her counseling practice, Ms. Ackerstein regularly advises employers on issues such as disability management, reductions in force, privacy in the workplace, terminations without litigation, restrictive covenants, best practice employment policies, executive hiring and separations, and performance management. She also conducts management training for employers on a wide variety of employment law topics.
Ms. Ackerstein has substantial trial experience, including service as an Assistant United States Attorney in Boston from 1983 to 1986, prior to joining Jackson Lewis in 1987. Ms Ackerstein began her career at the prominent Boston firm Goodwin, Procter & Hoar.
She is a graduate of The Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1977), where she was an editor of The Georgetown Law Journal. She also is a graduate of Boston University, where she received a Master of Urban Affairs Degree in 1974, and the University of Vermont (B.A. 1970, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa).
Published Works
Books |
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| The American With Disabilities Act -- What Supervisors Need to Know. MA: Business One Irwin/Mirror Press, 1994. [Author] |
Honors, Awards and Pro Bono Activity
- Recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America for 2006 through 2011
- Recognized as leading employment law practitioner by Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers For Business: The Client's Guide for 2006 through 2010
- Massachusetts Super Lawyer 2004 through 2011
- 1983 - 1986 Assistant U.S. Attorney, Boston, Massachusetts
