Hope Eastman
Principal, Paley Rothman
Hope is Co-Chair of the firm’s Employment Law practice. For more than 30 years she has represented a variety of businesses, trade associations, and non-profit organizations in all areas of employment law, including age, gender, race, and disability discrimination; sexual and other harassment; wage and hour matters; and non- competition disputes.
Hope thoroughly familiarizes herself with her clients’ businesses, their goals and needs, and then works with them to craft solutions to meet those needs. She works with companies to develop regulatory-sensitive employment policies for recruitment, selection, promotion, discipline, and termination of employees, and evaluates and advises clients with regard to major changes planned for their workforces and individual employee issues that come up regularly for most businesses.
A significant portion of her practice involves representing employers before the EEOC, the OFCCP, the Department of Labor, other federal agencies, and in federal and state court. She also serves as a mediator in employment disputes. Throughout her career, Hope has been involved in the shaping of federal employment law, both before Congress and with the Executive Branch.
Under Hope’s leadership the firm’s Employment Law group was named as one of only a handful of firms with offices in Maryland, selected as a 2015 “Best Law Firm,” for three consecutive years, with national rankings (Tier 1 or 2) in Employment Litigation. Paley Rothman, a mid-sized regional firm, was recognized among much larger national and international firms.
Paley Rothman also was one of twelve firms to receive a national ranking for Employment Law–Management (Tier 3). The Employment Law practice was also recognized locally, earning a Tier 1 ranking in Washington, D.C. for Litigation–Labor & Employment and a Tier 2 ranking for Employment Law–Management. Since that time, Paley Rothman has maintained each of those outstanding national and local rankings.
- Employment Law
- Employee Benefits, Employment Contracts, Employment Discrimination, ERISA, Overtime & Unpaid Wages, Sexual Harassment, Whistleblower, Wrongful Termination
- Business Law
- Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Finance, Business Formation, Business Litigation, Franchising, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Nonprofits
- Government Relations
- Litigation: Business
- California
- District of Columbia
- District of Columbia Bar
- Maryland
- English: Spoken, Written
- Prinicpal
- Paley Rothman
- Current
- Harvard Law School
- J.D. (1969)
- Honors: Cum Laude
- Best Law Firms (2013-2018)
- U.S. News & Best Lawyers
- - Tier 2 National Ranking for Litigation - Labor & Employment - Tier 3 National Ranking for Employment Law - Management - Tier 1 Metropolitan (D.C. area) Ranking for Litigation - Labor & Employment - Tier 2 Metropolitan (D.C. area) Ranking for Employment Law - Management
- International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers (2006-2018)
- International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers (2006-2018)
- Maryland’s Top 100 Women
- The Daily Record's
- “Top Employment Lawyers” in the DC area
- Washingtonian Magazine
- Best Lawyers (2006-2018)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Maryland State Bar
- Member
- Current
- District of Columbia Bar
- Member
- - Current
- Board of Directors of the American Employment Law Council (AELC)
- Past Chair
- -
- The Governing Council of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section
- Former member
- -
- The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
- Member
- Activities: Past President
- Website
- Paley Rothman