Michal Shinnar was named “among the most influential and respected practitioners in the employment law sector in Maryland” in the Daily Record’s 2023 Employment Law Power List.
Michal Shinnar was named “among the most influential and respected practitioners in the employment law sector in Maryland” in the Daily Record’s 2023 Employment Law Power List. She takes a client centric approach to all legal matters and represents employees in sex discrimination, disability discrimination, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, race discrimination, age discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, non-compete agreements, and unpaid wages cases.
Her practice includes all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, disability accommodations, employment contracts, non-competes, severance agreements, and wage and hour disputes. Michal was a member of the litigation team that won the highly publicized $43.8 million settlement in Breen v. FAA, which made history as the highest settlement in an age discrimination case against the federal government. She serves as the Chair of the Disability Law Practice Group for the National Employment Lawyers’ Association (NELA).
Michal joined JGL after over eight years of practicing at plaintiff-side employment law firms and having clerked for an Administrative Judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- Maryland
- US Court of Federal Claims
- US District Court for the District of Columbia
- US District Court for the District of Maryland
- Fordham University School of Law, JD, summa cum laude, 2011
- Barnard College, Columbia University, BA, cum laude, 2006
- Best Lawyers in America® – Ones to Watch – Labor & Employment Law – Employee
- Bethesda Magazine Top Attorneys, Employment (employee), 2023
- Maryland’s Employment Law Power Players, The Daily Record, 2023
- Stein Scholar, Public Interest Law Fellow, Fordham University School of Law
- Donald J. Feerick Prize in Labor Law, Fordham University School of Law, 2011
- Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award Recipient, summa cum laude, Fordham University School of Law, 2011
- Moot Court Team Editor, Mentor Competition, Fordham University School of Law
- Associate Editor, Intellectual Property Law Journal, Fordham University School of Law
- National Employment Lawyers’ Association (“NELA”) Co-Chair of Disability Law Practice Group
- Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (“MWELA”) Board Member, Chair of Luncheon Seminars Committee
- Disability Rights Bar Association
- Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund
- DC Trial Lawyers’ Association
- Quoted in “How to Fill Out FMLA Forms: A Step-by-Step Guide,” Investopedia, 2025
- “Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Michal Shinnar Of JGL Law On How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Have a Disability,” Authority Magazine, 2024
- Quoted in “Maryland State Police shakes up Internal Affairs Division, bringing in new commanders,” The Baltimore Sun, 2024
- Quoted in “Maryland State Police seeks $2.75M to settle claims of racial discrimination,” The Daily Record, 2024
- Quoted in “Federal judge rules racial discrimination lawsuit against Maryland State Police can continue.” The Baltimore Sun, 2024
- Quoted in “A Maryland trooper shared an offensive meme a week after police killed George Floyd. His punishment: retiring 3 years later,” The Baltimore Sun, 2023
- Quoted in “Internal emails detail pressure state police troopers faced to drive up traffic ticket numbers,” The Baltimore Banner, 2023
- “Employment Discrimination Against Survivors of Domestic Violence,” Maryland State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Newsletter, Fall 2016
- “State of the ADAAA” Annual NELA Conference, 2024
- “25 Years After Faragher-Ellerth” Annual NELA Conference, 2023
- “Civility from the Podium: Professionalism as a Strategic Tool in an Employment Appeal,” MWELA and College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, 2021
- “Motions for Summary Judgment” Federal Bar Association & MWELA Panel at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on Motions Practice, 2020
- “Invisible Disabilities,” Maryland State Bar Association Annual Conference, 2020
- “Anatomy of an ADA Case” Annual NELA Conference, 2019
- “Trial Strategies for Disability Cases,” Annual NELA Conference, 2020
- “Pregnancy & Family Responsibilities Discrimination” Annual MWELA Conference, 2019
- “The Intersections of Disability Discrimination and Sex Harassment: Part I: An Introduction to the Issues,” TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund and National Women’s Law Center Webinars, 2019
- “The Intersections of Disability Discrimination and Sex Harassment: Part II: Guidance for Litigating Attorneys,” TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund and National Women’s Law Center Webinars, 2019
- “Legal Protections for Employees Experiencing Infertility,” DC Women’s Bar Association, 2018
- “Essential Functions Under Title I of the ADA,” Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, 2021
- “Undue Burdens Under Title I of the ADA,” Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, 2019
- “Strategies for Bringing Charges at the EEOC,” Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, Baltimore, 2018
- “Disability Accommodations for Federal Employees,” Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, 2017
