Summer Hart Murshid

I was on a (forced) leave of absence and was trying to get everything set so I could start working again. They had been jerking me around, making my life more difficult and stressful than it would have been had I actually been on the job. Things had started to be looking up and I thought I would be g...oing back to work soon (within a week I'd expected) when HR called and said it would be at least two more weeks before I could go back because they needed to set some "ground rules" for my return. At this point, I'd had enough of the way I was being treated and I decided I no longer wanted to work for the company, as they were treating me so poorly that I knew when I returned I would be treated as almost sub-human. I first tried to talk to HR about it but they were rather unprofessional and extremely unhelpful, so I knew I wouldn't be able to do this alone. This is when I hired Summer. She obviously got them to realize I (and she) "meant business," as within two days, the company was offering me a settlement/severance package. The offer was actually pretty good, which I attribute to how good Summer is. I talked the severance over with Summer and we both agreed that while it was pretty good, it was not good enough. She suggested we make a counter-offer that was somewhat more than I really should get, sort of a "shoot for the stars" type offer. I don't know what she said or how she did it, but they agreed to our offer almost immediately. She and I were both surprised my employer agreed to it, we actually joked perhaps I should have tried to get even more! In the end, I got more than I expected from the settlement, and actually got more than I originally hoped for. I was/am EXTREMELY happy with the final result, and obviously I and extremely happy with Summer for her assistance and work, I have no doubt she is the reason it went so well. Undoubtedly, if I ever need a lawyer for an area she specializes in, I will hire Summer without question and without hesitation.

Summer was exactly the representative I needed in a discrimination dispute I had with an employer. During my initial consultation she was compassionate and easily grasped the issues at play in the dispute. She laid out several options including additional negotiating before getting her involved. ... She believed in the case but obviously was not just in it for the money. When I chose to retain her services we again discussed possible outcomes and options. Ultimately I decided to pursue an out-of-court course of action. She became my advocate, efficiently communicating my desires, my employer's offers and my counter-offers, finally producing a generous severance as well as preserving my right to go to work for a competitor. My work environment had become impossibly strained, and I greatly sppreciated the prompt settlement. Every email and voicemail was answered within an hour...often she left messages for me, not the other way around. She made a very uncomfortable work environment something I was able to walk away from. I know that's her job, but not once did it seem that she was just ' doing her job'. I never felt 'processed'; I felt like a person. I would strongly recommend Summer to anyone with a legitimate employment dispute. She believes in doing the right thing.

Summer is an excellent attorney that I would recommend to anyone encountering issues that stem from an employer/employee relationship. Almost 3 years after leaving a Wisconsin based company, I encountered an issue which entangled unemployment benefits, Military service/USERRA, and US Tax law. S...ummer was able to provide excellent service to the root cause of my issue, while simultaneously providing feedback on all related issues. Her ability to reach outside of her comfort zone in order to meet my specific need is unparalleled in my experience. At the time of the incident, I had moved to Washington, DC and begun a career here. Even without ever being able to meet face to face, Summer was able to translate a sense of calm with her immediate grasp of the issues, and ability to prioritize them for me and give a top notch cost-benefit analysis. Going so far as to tell me when she thought some of her services were not needed, and thus saving me billing hours. This selfless devotion to what must have been my one of her many cases, (even so far as to continue working on my behalf during her wedding and honeymoon!) has led me to constantly recommend her to any and all of my associates who require employment law services, as well as looking to her for advice and opinions on cases and case law that arise in my current work. At no point did I ever feel pressured, or uncomfortable, or that I was not in control of the situation. Always suggesting, never telling, and always able to either answer a question, or find the answer and respond back with remarkable alacrity, I would strenuously urge anyone who is considering her services to immediately do so.