Old Towne Associates, P.C.

11/21/2022

I’m grateful to God for this honor. It is a joy to serve my pro bono clients and fight for their justice.

09/01/2022

And another happy client. Praise God for the victory He blessed us with! Having amazing clients makes my work easy!

09/01/2022

A gorgeous bouquet from another happy client. Thank God for the good people He sends us!

09/01/2022

Beautiful flowers from a happy client. How thoughtful. We’re blessed with great clients.

08/31/2022

We're hiring! Please spread the word if you know of any good candidates!

Paralegal Job Opening Old Towne Associates, P.C. (“OTA”) is a local law firm representing employees who stand up to wrongdoing in the workplace with matters involving civil rights, labor, and...

12/06/2021

Old Towne Associates, P.C. is overjoyed to announce that our founding attorney, Monique Miles has been recognized as one of Legal Elite-Virginia’s Best Lawyers by Virginia Business Magazine in 2021 in the Labor and Employment Law category! Praise God!

Learn more about the Virginia Business Legal Elite: https://bit.ly/31saAZU

The 22nd edition of the Virginia Business Legal Elite Legal Elite recognizes leading Virginia attorneys across 20 specialties Launched in cooperation with the Virginia Bar Association in 2000, Virginia Business’ Legal Elite polls lawyers licensed to practice in Virginia each year, asking them to i...

10/21/2020

Gloria Deus!!! I recently learned that I've been selected again for Northern Virginia Magazine's Top Lawyer in Employment Law designation! This is my second year of being selected for my work in employment law! Praise God. Look out for the December issue of Northern Virginia Magazine, which will feature a spotlight on me and the work I've been doing to serve clients in Virginia and DC communities since 2009.

Monique Miles is a lawyer practicing in Northern Virginia

08/19/2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CUSTOM INK LOSES MOTION TO DENY A FORMER BLACK EMPLOYEE HER TITLE VII CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - A federal judge Monday issued an order allowing Chatia Moore to revive her Title VII race and pay discrimination claims against her former employer, Custom Ink, by granting her motion to amend her Complaint.

Ms. Moore, a black Human Resources employee, started working at Custom Ink in August 2014. At that time, she had no idea that she would face race and pay discrimination at the hands of her boss the HR director, Ashley Schimmel. When Ms. Moore confronted Ms. Schimmel about the pay discrepancy, Ms. Schimmel stated that her white comparator’s salary was not because of education or experience. Then after a department meeting in February 2018, that was called to address diversity in leadership ranks, Ms. Moore noticed how she was being treated less favorably than her white peer as the only black person in a technical role within the HR department.

Ms. Moore hired Monique A. Miles to pursue her civil rights. When Ms. Miles contacted Custom Ink’s counsel about filing her civil rights claims in federal court, she was informed of an arbitration agreement that they had Ms. Moore sign as a condition of employment and that her only remedy was to file her claims with the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”).

Custom Ink has attempted to deny Ms. Moore her right to have her Title VII claims heard by a jury first by making her sign the arbitration agreement and then by ignoring multiple payment deadlines and failing to pay the $2,200 arbitration fee, which caused AAA to close her arbitration file.

“This was pure gamesmanship and it’s sad,” said Ms. Miles, “Custom Ink should have paid the $2,200 fee, especially when it drafted the arbitration agreement stating that it would cover all costs of arbitration. There is no excuse for why they didn’t pay the fee.”

Shortly after receiving notice that AAA had closed the file and not wanting Ms. Moore to miss out on her opportunity to pursue her Title VII claims, Ms. Miles filed her case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Case No. 1:20-cv-00187). “That finally got Custom Ink's attention,” said Ms. Miles. The first thing Custom Ink did was to file a motion to dismiss her claims.

At first, Custom Ink was successful in getting the Court to dismiss the Title VII claims based on her complaint not referencing the arbitration or Custom Ink’s bad conduct during the arbitration process as a reason for her not filing her federal lawsuit within the 90-day deadline.

Ms. Miles filed a motion seeking permission to amend Ms. Moore’s complaint to assert an equitable estoppel argument to clarify that her Title VII race and pay discrimination claims should be considered timely filed due to Custom Ink's failure to pay the $2,200 arbitration fee. Courts have recognized equitable estoppel when a Defendant fails to pay arbitration fees and then tries to bar the Plaintiff from raising Title VII claims outside the 90-day federal court filing deadline.

Last Friday, the court heard the attorneys’ arguments on Ms. Moore’s motion to amend. The judge asked Custom Ink’s counsel, Nigel Wilkinson, why Custom Ink had not paid the fee after the first, second, third or fourth requests for payment from AAA. Mr. Wilkinson could not provide a valid reason. The court noted that Ms. Moore had no way to know when and if Custom Ink would ever pay the $2,200 arbitration fee. In issuing his ruling, he went on to say that he was not going to deny Ms. Moore her justice because of Custom Ink’s failure to pay the arbitration fee. The court ruled in Ms. Moore’s favor allowing her to amend her complaint, which allowed her to revive her Title VII civil rights claims in her lawsuit. Ms. Moore filed her First Amended Complaint that same day.

Monday, the court issued the Order allowing Ms. Moore to amend her complaint. Ms. Moore considers this a victory as Custom Ink is finally being held accountable for its bad acts. Ms. Moore is disappointed by Custom Ink’s hypocrisy. Custom Ink tries to come across on social media platforms as being “woke” or “socially responsible” in these racial times yet has not taken responsibility for their actions.

For more information, please contact Monique Miles at 703-519-6810, email [email protected]

01/18/2020

LITIGATION PARALEGAL

Old Towne Associates, P.C. (“OTA”) is a local law firm representing employees who stand up to wrongdoing in the workplace in matters involving civil rights, labor, and employment law. Our clients' success determines our own. We ensure both by collaborating with our clients to achieve their goals. We are passionate about what we do and pride ourselves on providing exceptional services to our clients. OTA is looking for a paralegal to join our team in a full-time role in November 2019.

Throughout their tenure at OTA, our Paralegals gain substantive hands-on legal experience that develops their skills daily as they learn the legal procedure, litigation strategy, and client advocacy through their work. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in law school, to gain a better understanding of the practice of law, and to see first-hand how strong work product can have a great impact on our clients, our practice, and case precedent.

We are only considering candidates who have GRIT, are energetic, detail-oriented, proactive and highly motivated and are able to manage multiple priorities and their time well. They must exhibit the highest standards of excellence, good judgment, professional confidentiality and integrity, and display, at all times and to all persons, a courteous and professional attitude. They must possess excellent academic credentials, strong research and writing skills, and superior analytical ability. The selected Paralegals will gain invaluable practical experience working directly with the Principal and Firm clients on cases to provide high-level assistance throughout all phases of litigation and trial work. This is a wonderful mentorship opportunity for future law students to learn about law practice.

Duties
• Assist attorneys with handling a diverse portfolio of legal matters
• Answer and direct incoming phone calls
• Order office supplies
• Coordinate recycling drop off
• Create, organize, and maintain both administrative and client files
• Maintain calendar/schedule (heavy calendar management)
• Assist in preparing and filing pleadings for Court
• Edit and input accurate time entries for partners, contractors, and other attorneys (using Rocketmatter)
• Regularly coordinate conference calls, meetings, and travel arrangements
• Communicate with clients, contractors, and vendors
• Track and submit reimbursements
• Track and submit Continuing Legal Education (CLE), Bar, and various association requirements
• Draft, proofread, and revise correspondence and documents
• Assist attorneys with organizing exhibits and maintaining pleading indexes and files
• Perform substantive and procedural legal research and summarize your research assignments for attorneys
• Assist attorneys with drafting EEOC and NLRB administrative documents
• Assist attorneys with drafting legal memoranda, complaints, substantive preliminary and trial motions and oppositions, and appeal motions
• Assist attorneys with preparing discovery requests, responses and document productions
• Assist attorneys with preparing discovery deficiency letters
• Assist attorneys with drafting proposed orders and letters to the court
• Assist attorneys with issuing subpoenas and preparing for court hearings
• Summarize deposition testimony
• Prepare deposition, trial, and expert materials
• Provide on-site trial support, as needed
• Calendar meetings, depositions, hearings, trial dates, and other events, as necessary for attorneys and other attendees
• Attend mediations, depositions, and court proceedings with attorneys, as needed
• Post daily time entries into client billing system
• Review local rules and court orders
• Manage schedule to ensure that tasks are completed on time
• Other responsibilities, as assigned

Other Considerations
Paralegals are provided with training, support, and flexibility to balance busy caseloads with their evening school schedule. OTA offers a competitive salary and benefits package and paid educational leave days in addition to PTO for Paralegals who successfully complete a 90-day probationary period.

How to Apply
To apply, applicants are required to submit an application package including all of the following: (1) a cover letter detailing any prior experience you have working in a law practice, why you want to work for Old Towne Associates, P.C. and what you can offer the Firm based on your knowledge, skills, and abilities; (2) a résumé; (3) a legal writing sample; and (4) three professional references. Materials should be sent in a single PDF document and uploaded on our website, http://oldtowneassociates.com/careers/. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Attorneys, JDs and LLM students, will not be considered and need not apply.

03/20/2019

Today we are celebrating Lakea’s one year anniversary at our firm! We thank God for Lakea! She is a valuable employee who works hard for our clients. We are honored to have her on our team and look forward to more anniversaries!