Christiane A. Roussell
Asscoiate, Hunton & Williams LLP
Christiane ("Chrissy") A. Roussell is a fifth-year attorney at Hunton & Williams LLP in Los Angeles. Chrissy's practice focuses exclusively on complex and single-plaintiff labor and employment litigation. Her experience includes wage and hour class and collective actions and litigation of claims of discrimination (race, age, gender and disability), harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, employee raiding, and trade secrets. Chrissy has defended clients in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries against claims under the FLSA and California Labor Code, as well as clients in the retail, manufacturing, airline, and food production industries in single-plaintiff whistleblower, wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation actions against individual plaintiffs, the EEOC, and the California DFEH. She has also represented clients during the course of the EEOC and DFEH investigation and conciliation process. Furthermore, she has represented clients in the financial services and employee placement industries in non-competition, trade secret, and employee raiding actions. She also provides human resources and employment-related counseling and training. In addition, Chrissy has a strong commitment to pro bono work. She has represented and counseled families through the adoption process. She also has experience representing California state inmates serving life sentences in parole hearings before the California Board of Parole Hearings and in habeas proceedings, which she began as a student at USC Gould School of Law in its Post-Conviction Justice Project and has continued as a practicing attorney. At Hunton, Chrissy serves on the office Pro Bono Committee and Associates Advisory Committee. Outside of the firm, she is an officer and board member of the John M. Langston Bar Association as Parliamentarian and Chair of African-American Attorneys in Downtown Firms (AAADF). AAADF was formed in the late 1980's with the mission of providing support to the small number of African-American attorneys in large firms in downtown Los Angeles. It has since mushroomed into a facet of the Langston Bar Association that supports attorneys in a wide array of firms throughout the greater Los Angeles area. As AAADF Chair for the past three years, Chrissy has coordinated a variety of workshops, including those focused on mental health and substance abuse prevention, financial planning, how to find time for community service, starting your own firm, going in-house, becoming a law professor, becoming a judge, and tips on how to be an indispensable associate. She has also coordinated AAADF's annual summer cocktail reception and summer dinner to acknowledge and support African-American summer associates and law clerks. Chrissy is also on the board of the California Young Lawyers Association, a California State Bar Section. She serves on the Communications and MCLE Committees, creating networking opportunities and MCLE workshops for young attorneys through the state. Chrissy was recently appointed to the Barristers Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for the July 2011 through July 2012 term. She is also an active member of Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles.
