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A Battle for the Souls of Black Girls

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The New York Times featured Morrison & Foerster in its coverage of a groundbreaking federal lawsuit against the Binghamton City School district for conducting intrusive searches of four 12-year-old Black and Latina girls after they appeared “hyper and

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The New York Times featured Morrison & Foerster in its coverage of a groundbreaking federal lawsuit against the Binghamton City School district for conducting intrusive searches of four 12-year-old Black and Latina girls after they appeared “hyper and giddy” during lunch. The case, which a MoFo pro bono team filed along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund, examines the disparate treatment and discipline rates of Black girls in United States schools. According to a study, Black girls are viewed by educators as “more suspicious, mature, provocative, and aggressive than their white peers,” and girls “as young as five were viewed by adults as less innocent than white girls,” which creates an “adultification bias” that leads to Black girls being disproportionately disciplined in schools, something the Binghamton lawsuit hopes to highlight and change.The MoFo pro bono team serving as co-counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is led by New York Litigation partners Jamie Levitt and Joshua Hill, with associates Yocaba Annobil, Amanda Gayer, and Chanwoo Park. Read the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/us/politics/black-girls-school-discipline.html" target="_blank">full article</a> (subscription may be required).

A Battle for the Souls of Black Girls

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Jamie Levitt is a trial lawyer and managing partner of the New York office. She is also the former head of the New York Litigation Department. Her practice involves all aspects of complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on securities litigation. She has represented public companies and their officers and directors in securities fraud actions, shareholder derivative suits, as well as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory investigations. She also has experience conducting and defending corporate internal investigations and advising board committees and individuals with respect to investigations.Jamie is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA in the New York: Commercial Litigation category, where clients noted that “she’s a force of nature, really thoughtful and a real leader” and “she is a phenomenal trial lawyer, she masters complex subjects quickly and can jump into court and handle them wonderfully.” She is also routinely recognized for her work in complex securities litigations by leading rankings publications including The Legal 500 US, where she is recommended in the Securities Litigation: Defense category.Jamie is also regularly recognized for being a leader both within the firm and in the legal industry more broadly. As a testament to Jamie’s impact as Managing Partner of the firm’s New York office, she received Corporate Counsel’s 2022 Managing Partner of the Year Award and was also recognized in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report for Innovative Leadership that same year. Notably, Jamie also accepted The American Lawyer’s 2023 Corporate Purpose Award, which honors an organization that has defined and executed on an initiative or overall mission that supports the well-being and welfare of its members or other stakeholders. Jamie has also been repeatedly honored for her commitment to pro bono work and advancing women in law. Among her many commendations, Jamie has been honored by: Appleseed at their 2024 Pillars of Justice Event to celebrate her commitment to reproductive rights advocacy and public service; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest at their 2024 Annual Law & Society Awards Luncheon for playing in integral role in advancing efforts to achieve justice for all New Yorkers; New York State Bar Association at their 2023 Annual Meeting of the Women in Law Section for her dedication to advancing the professional development of women attorneys through their Kay Crawford Murray Award; and Crain’s New York Business, who named Jamie to their Notable Women in Law list in 2019, which recognizes leading female attorneys in New York who are furthering justice.Jamie serves on numerous boards and committees of public interest groups, including having served on the Board of the Federal Bar Council and as past chair of its Public Service Committee; executive vice president and past chair of the Board of Advocates for Children of New York, Inc.; past chair of the Board of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; member of the Board of VisionSpring; member of the Board of The Cooper Union; past member of the Board of the Center for Reproductive Rights; and the Legal Advisory Board for Sanctuary for Families. Jamie also sat on Morrison Foerster’s Board of Directors and its Governance Committee; was a former chair of Morrison Foerster’s Pro Bono Committee; and currently serves as chair of The Morrison Foerster Foundation.Jamie received her B.A. magna cum laude in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. in 1992 from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an Articles Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. From 1993 to 1994, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.

Jamie Levitt

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