Patricia Rapinchuk is a partner of the firm and serves on its executive committee. Pat was recently listed in the New England Super Lawyers 2009 edition in the area of Employment and Labor Law. She is also listed in the Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel edition, November/December 2009, in that same area of law.

Born in Springfield, Pat resides in Northampton, Massachusetts. She graduated with a B.A., magna cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College in 1979, Phi Beta Kappa, and received a J.D. with high honors from the University of Connecticut in 1989. She was admitted to practice in Connecticut in 1989 and Massachusetts, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, and U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts in 1990. Pat served as clerk to the Honorable Antoinette Dupont, Chief Justice of the Connecticut Appellate Court, from 1989 to 1990. Prior to her career as an attorney, Pat held management positions in the banking industry.

In 2003, Pat became only the second lawyer from Western Massachusetts to serve as president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, after having served on that organization’s Board of Directors for many years. She currently is a member of the Women’s Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Hampden County and Hampshire County Bar Associations. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Pat focuses her practice on employment law, encompassing both litigation on behalf of, and advice and counsel to, employers. A significant part of Pat’s practice is devoted to defending municipalities against employee discrimination claims. Her areas of expertise include employment discrimination and harassment, compliance with wage and hour laws, FMLA and other laws governing employee leaves of absence, as well as employee policies and agreements.

In addition to litigation and trial work, Pat writes and lectures on employment law issues to business and legal groups.

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