Mary-Alice Coleman
Mary-Alice Coleman
Davis
California (CA)
Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
Employment & Labor
Personal Injury Plaintiff: General
Profile
Mary-Alice has a long history of fighting for the disadvantaged, powerless and mistreated. After 20 years in the public sector, Mary-Alice opened the Law Offices of Mary-Alice Coleman in 2003. Driven by her own whistleblower experience as a public employee, Mary-Alice now focuses on employment and civil rights matters, as well as personal injury law. Mary-Alice is fearless against government bureaucrats -- and the lawyers who represent them. She stands up to major national corporations, and currently is co-counsel in a wage and hour class action against one of the world’s largest corporations. Her new firm’s very first trial resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict against a national company that fired a pre-school director for refusing to disobey California’s teacher-to-student ratio laws. Her successes also include significant monetary recoveries for sexual harassment, race discrimination, disability discrimination, and auto injuries.
Mary-Alice testifies at the Capitol on legislation of significance to employees. One of her happiest recent achievements was the signing of SB 650 by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in late 2010 to give protections to UC whistleblowers similar to those already recognized for State and CSU employees. Her past legislative credits include co-drafting the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act as well as a major rewrite of the California Small Claims Act. Mary-Alice lectures and writes on how to defeat SLAPP actions, how to successfully litigate against public entities, and how to succeed in private practice.
Mary-Alice has authored and edited consumer law and self-help publications. She co-authored the Consumer Law Sourcebook for Small Claims Judicial Officers (California Department of Consumer Affairs).
Mary-Alice is a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association; the California State Bar Labor and Employment Section; the Sacramento County Bar Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Section; the National Employment Lawyers Association; the Yolo County Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Sacramento Women Lawyers Association. She has served multiple terms as Chair of the State Bar’s Committee on Legal Services to Middle Income Persons, was a member of Chief Justice Lucas’ Future of the Courts Commission, and is trained to mediate Department of Fair Employment and Housing cases.
She is admitted to the California, the Ninth Circuit and various United States District Courts bars. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis, School of Law. She also is an honors graduate in political science and holds a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Chico.
Selected To
Northern California Super Lawyers 2011
Northern California Super Lawyers 2010
About Mary-Alice Coleman
Admitted: 1981, California
Professional Webpage: www.lawofficemac.com/mac.html
Honors and Awards:
- Recipient, USAID Consultant Contract, Supreme Court of Fiji
- Northern California Super Lawyer 2010, 2011
- "Top Labor and Employment Attorney", Daily Journal, 2011
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Advisory Member, California League of Alternative Sentencing Programs
- Honorary Member, California Association of Small Claims Court Advisors
- Chair, State Bar of California, Legal Services to Middle Income Persons Committee
- Legislative Advocate, National Employment Lawyers Association
- Legislative Advocate, California Employment Lawyers Association
- Member, Law Review, University of California, Davis, School of Law
- Member, Judicial Council of California, Small Claims Court Committee
- Member, California Chief Justice's Future of the Courts Commission
- Member, Sacramento Woman Lawyers Association
- Member, National Employment Lawyers Association
- Member, California Employment Lawyers Association
- Member, Yolo County Bar Association
- Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Member, Sacramento County Bar Administrative Law Section
- Member, Sacramento County Bar Labor and Employment Section
- Member, Sacramento County Bar
- Member, California State Bar Public Law Section
- Member, California State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section
- Member, California State Bar (#98365)
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Speaker, Operation Protect & Defend (High School Civil Education and Outreach Program)
Scholarly Lectures and Writings:
- Author, Your Town: A Guide to Leadership in Small Rural Communities, Northern California Institute of Local Government, 1977
- Author, Small Claims Court - Defendants, Department of Consumer Affairs
- Author, Small Claims Court - Plaintiffs, Department of Consumer Affairs
- Editor and writer, Resolving Common Consumer Disputes: Sourcebook for Small Claims Court Judicial Officers, Department of Consumer Affairs, 1986, 1987, 1988 and Supplement, 1989
- Author, California's Community Dispute Resolution Program: An Interim Report, Sacramento County Bar Association Docket, Vol. 89, #9, 1989
- Author, Implementation of California's Dispute Resolution Act, Pepperdine Law Review, Vol. 16, S5, 1989
- Author, Dispute Resolution Options - California'a Challenge for the 1990's, Riverside Bar Bulletin, Vol. 40/#5, 1990
- Co-Author, Using the Small Claims Court - A Handbook for Plaintiffs and Defendants, Department of Consumer Affairs, Published in English and in Spanish
- Consultant/Contributor, Small Claims Court and Consumer Law, California Center for Judicial Education and Research, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
- Contributor, Justice in the Balance: 2020, Abbey Press
Other Outstanding Achievements:
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, California State University, Chico, Department of Political Science
- Co-Host, UC Davis School of Law 2010 Class Reunion
- Graduate Student Fellow, American Society of Public Administration
- Field Staff Member, 1st Senate District, Chico, CA
- Legal Advocate and Spokesperson, West Davis Neighbors v UCD
- Board Member, Northeast California Health Manpower Council
- Commissioner, City of Davis Planning Commission
Mary-Alice Coleman:
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