June.11.2014
Orrick Senior Associate Lauri Damrell was recently appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Subject to Senate confirmation, Ms. Damrell will serve as one of 17 "public members" of the Commission, alongside a distinguished roster of women in government.
California's Commission on the Status of Women and Girls was created in 1965 to protect the interests of California women and girls. As an independent, nonpartisan state agency, the Commission identifies inequities in laws, practices and conditions facing this group and advocates on behalf of women and girls to the Governor, the Legislature and other public policymakers. Issues of focus include gender equity in the media; educational needs of women and girls; gender in the workplace and employment; health and safety of women and girls and women in the military, women veterans and military families.
Ms. Damrell is a member of Orrick's Employment Law team, which was named by The Recorder as California Employment Department of the Year for 2013. A thought leader on diversity in the workforce, she has published extensively and was recently invited to speak at the U.S. Capitol regarding the Paycheck Fairness Act. She is co-founder of the Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association of Sacramento (MAMAS), which empowers, supports and connects attorneys who are mothers. She also serves on the planning committee for Orrick's Women in Employment Law Network, which connects women employment lawyers and HR professionals from the nation's most successful companies, educational institutions and law firms, and she recently served on the executive committee for Operation Protect and Defend, an organization of judges and attorneys supported by the Sacramento Bar Association to bring civic education to local high schools. Ms. Damrell has served on several leadership committees for the National Association of Women Lawyers and prior to joining Orrick, she served as law clerk to Honorable Chief Judge David F. Levi, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California in 2005.