ABOUT EMILY NUGENT
Before opening her own firm in 2019, Ms. Nugent was a partner at Dickson Geesman LLP in Oakland, California, where she successfully tried employment cases in state and federal courts and in arbitration. Ms. Nugent represents employees exclusively, as she has throughout her career.
Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Nugent worked for a wide variety of non-profit organizations: providing legal services to clients with HIV/AIDS at the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, DC; representing low-income clients at Legal Services of Northern Virginia; working on military law and GI Rights issues at the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors; and managing the US office of Peace Brigades International. She also served as Senior Research Associate for the Public International Law & Policy Group where she managed the Montenegro and Cyprus projects. From 2005-2007, she provided legal assistance to Montenegro on referenda and state succession issues and to Turkish Cypriots on electoral rights and earned sovereignty.
​
The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association named Ms. Nugent its Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2021. She was a finalist for the same award in 2020. In 2012, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco honored her as its Attorney of the Year. She has been rated a Northern California SuperLawyer in Employment Litigation from 2019-2023 and was named a SuperLawyers “Rising Star” from 2012-2018.
​
Ms. Nugent served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel from 2015-2018. She is past Chair of the Labor & Employment Section of the Alameda County Bar Association. She is a member of and frequent speaker on panels and conferences put on by the American Bar Association’s Labor & Employment sections, California Employment Lawyers Association, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and Alameda County Bar Association.
​
Ms. Nugent graduated from American University Washington College of Law, UC Berkeley, and Annapolis Senior High School.
Emily is a strategic and relentless attorney.
She is reliable & compassionate to her clients.
-
HONORS & AWARDSTrial Lawyer of the Year - San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, 2021 Trial Lawyer of the Year, Finalist - San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, 2020 Attorney of the Year - AIDS Legal Referral Panel, 2012 Super Lawyer - Northern California Super Lawyers, 2019-2023 Rising Star - Northern California Super Lawyers, 2012-2018
-
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTSOpening, Advanced Mediation Conference, California Lawyers Association, Labor and Employment Law Section (December 5, 2023) Competition and Cooperation, Advanced Mediation Conference, California Lawyers Association, Labor and Employment Law Section (December 5, 2023) Getting the Full Value Your Clients Deserve, California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) Annual Conference (September 2023) Negotiation Skills, Agricultural Worker’s Program Retreat at California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) (September 2023) Demonstration and Debate: Deposition Ethics, American Bar Association (ABA) EEO Mid-Winter Conference (March 2023) Navigating the Workplace While Living with a Disability, AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) (October 2022) Successful Voir Dire in an ADA Case - Demonstration Panel, ABA EEO Mid-winter Conference (April 2022) Demystifying Arbitration, CELA Barrister's Committee (February 2022) COVID-19 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, ABA EEO Mid-Winter Conference (April 2021) Suds and Substance: Between Home & Work, ABA EEO Mid-Winter Conference (April 2021) Considerations on Returning to Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic, ALRP (October 2020) Document Management: Ethical Considerations and Strategies to Maximize Case Efficiency and Trial Success, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (July 2020) Key EEO Risks and Obligations in the COVID Era, ABA Panel (June 2020) Returning to Work in the COVID-19 Era, Bar Association of San Francisco (May 2020) Impact of the New Professional Rules of Conduct on Contingency Fee Retainers and Co-Counseling Agreements, CELA Panel (October 2018) 90 Days in 90 Minutes: Pre-trial Preparation, Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) (April 2017) Deposition Strategies in Employment Discrimination Litigation: HR Representative and Plaintiff Depositions, ABA EEO Mid-Winter Conference (March 2017) Disability Discrimination and Requests for Reasonable Accommodation, ALRP (March 2017) Forced Arbitration - Don't Give Up the Fight, CELA Annual Conference (September 2016) Pregnancy Discrimination Issues Take a Front Seat, ABA 8th Annual Labor & Employment Conference (November 2014) Electronically Stored Information and Ethical Issues in Discovery, CELA Annual Conference (October 2014) What's it Worth to You? Assessing the Value of Employment Cases, ACBA Fifth Annual Employment Law Symposium (September 2014) Picking your Alameda County Jury: Examining Myths & Truths about Alameda County Jurors and the Attorneys who Select Them, ACBA Fourth Annual Employment Law Symposium (September 2013) Hot Claim or Hot Air: Litigating Retaliation and Whistleblower Cases, ACBA Third Annual Employment Law Symposium (September 2012)
-
PUBLICATIONSMaking the Most of Option B: Nuts & Bolts of Mastering Arbitration, The Trial Lawyer, SFTLA (Summer 2019) Benefits and Limits of Videotaping Your Own Depositions, ABA Labor & Employment FLASH Newsletter (May 2016) Third Party Notification of Eviction, Clearinghouse Review, Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, Vol. 40, Numbers 7-8 (November-December 2006)
-
EDUCATIONAmerican University Washington College of Law (J.D. 2007) University of California - Berkeley (B.A. 1999) Portland Community College, Oregon (1995-1997) Annapolis High School, Maryland (1995)
-
BAR MEMBERSHIPSCalifornia (January 29, 2008) United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit (March 2010) United States District Court for the Northern, Central, and Eastern Districts of California (Various)
