Leslie Sarah Deutsch

While I practiced law as an Administrative Law Judge this attorney was my lead Hearing Officer. She bullied and harassed me, because I progressed in the role at a speed she could not control or at a speed she did not expect or anticipate. Her behavior was completely unacceptable and involved carryi...ng out whatever was in her power to prevent me from doing my job. Prior to being employed as an ALJ I practiced in complex litigation for over 16 years. This was the first time I had been bullied by a colleague to this significant degree, and by a woman who is much older than me, and I suffered a period of severe depression after the role had finished. Her behavior caused me to briefly leave law practice and then enter a role as a litigator in Special Education Law in administrative Law hearings with a firm that was not suited to my level of experience and where I suffered further mistreatment as a result. This brief role, however, resurrected me back into sophisticated legal practice, where I am now, and where I belong.