Former Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart shareholder Dawn Knepper has accused her old firm of gender discrimination in one of a series of recent lawsuits targeting large firms with claims that they give women short shrift in pay, promotions, and leadership opportunities.

On Thursday Knepper, now a shareholder at Buchalter in Orange County, California, spoke to The American Lawyer about the circumstances that led to the litigation she’s pursuing alongside other former colleagues at Ogletree. She also described what it’s like, as an employment lawyer herself, to be involved in litigation as a client and what she hopes the case will achieve.