Tiseme Zegeye
Partner, San Francisco Office
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415 956-1000
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Tiseme Zegeye

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office, Tiseme Zegeye represents employees, consumers, and the injured in individual, complex, and class actions. Tiseme specializes in women’s health, civil rights, and environmental justice cases, including representing women and families in fertility and gynecologic cancer matters and representing the injured in water contamination and wildfire cases. Prior to joining Lieff Cabraser, Tiseme was a Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York, where she litigated to protect access to abortion. Previously she was a Legal Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project in New York, where she worked to fight gender discrimination in employment, education, and housing.

Tiseme earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law, where she won the BLAPA Kim Barry ‘98 Memorial Graduation Prize for academic excellence and commitment to international and human rights work, as well as a Dean’s Scholarship. During law school, she worked with the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, interned with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and was active in the Black Allied Law Students Association and the Women of Color Collective.

Prior to attending law school, Tiseme earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in political science and sociology from the College of William and Mary, where she won the Benjamin Ewell Award for outstanding leadership and service to the College.

Long form bio (click to open pdf).

  • New York University School of Law, New York, New York
    J.D. – 2011
  • The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
    B.A. cum laude – 2008
  • California, 2018
  • New York, 2013
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2016
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 2014
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2014
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2018
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico, 2017
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2016
  • American Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section, EEO Committee (Employee-side Program Chair)
  • Lawyering Project (Advisory Board Member)
  • Speaker, “Defending Diversity in a Downturn,” The Bar Association of San Francisco, December 2023
  • Speaker, “Gender Pay Equity Here and Abroad,” American Association for Justice Winter Convention, February 2021
  • Panelist, “Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the Workplace,” American Bar Association 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2020
  • “Ones to Watch,” Best Lawyers, 2021-2024
  • “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2023
  • “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation,” Lawdragon, 2023
  • “Top 40 Under 40 Lawyer,” Daily Journal, 2022
  • “Unity Award,” Minority Bar Coalition, American Constitution Society, 2021