Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart and Dawn Knepper, a former nonequity shareholder who has accused the firm of gender bias, have traded new blows in a battle about whether her claims belong in arbitration.
Through her lawyers at Sanford Heisler Sharp, Knepper argued Tuesday in a San Francisco federal court filing that an Ogletree employee arbitration agreement should be disregarded, despite the firm’s claims that the pact applies to her case. Among other arguments, Knepper said she never signed such an agreement and that the firm’s first notice about the agreement came in an email sent in the early morning before a holiday weekend.
