Rountree Recently Served as Deputy General Counsel in the US. Department of Defense
Firm’s Third Experienced Federal Government Attorney Onboarded This Summer
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sanford Heisler Sharp today announced Schwanda Rountree has joined its Washington, D.C. office as a partner.
Since 2021, Rountree has served as Acting Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel for the Labor and Litigation Division of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Prior to that she was a Senior Attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, Division of Business and Administrative Law from 2009 to 2021, and an attorney working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2007 through 2009.
“Schwanda brings to the firm more than two decades of high-level federal trial experience, including work on many significant class action matters,” said David Sanford, co-founder and Chair of Sanford Heisler Sharp. “She has served with distinction at three of this nation’s most powerful federal agencies and earned victories in significant trial and appellate matters involving civil rights, housing, disability rights, elder rights and immigration. In addition, Schwanda has led high-profile union negotiations, provided counsel on federal litigation, and created and delivered training to federal attorneys. She will be a tremendous asset to our litigators and valued clients from coast-to-coast.”
A highly qualified labor and employment attorney, Rountree most recently provided a broad range of supervisory legal services in labor and employment law in support of DoDEA’s mission to operate accredited schools and ensure all school-aged children of military families are appropriately educated. In July 2023, Rountree received the Director’s Recognition of Excellence – which recognized her “extraordinary leadership, exceptional legal skill and collaborative work ethic.” At the Department of Education, she advised the agency on labor disputes and workforce reorganizations, including in complex class action FSLA arbitration hearings and union grievances. As a Trial Attorney at the DOJ, Rountree managed e-discovery in a complex Title VII class action in federal court and conducted extensive research on discriminatory reductions-in-force (RIFs), disability and age discrimination, and retaliation matters.
“Sanford Heisler Sharp is one of the nation’s premiere civil rights law firms,” said Rountree. “Its reputation for protecting the rights of individuals and classes of individuals who have been discriminated against in employment, education, housing, and other sectors is second to none. This is a stellar opportunity for me to continue ensuring that the laws of this nation and all of its states are equitably applied to all.”
A graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law, Rountree was a law clerk at The Elder and Disability Law Center in Washington, D.C. and a private law firm in Ahoskie, N.C. after completing her graduate studies. She earned her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in broadcast journalism and political science.
In addition to building a strong reputation for successfully representing the federal government in a wide range of matters and developing training and policy resources for several of its agencies’ attorneys, Rountree has a formidable presence in the arts, including collaborating with domestic and international galleries in placing contemporary art in museums and private collections worldwide.
Rountree is currently a National Advisory Board Member and Collections Committee Member of the Ackland Art Museum, Professional Arts Consultant for the Joan Mitchell Foundation, a member of the National Advisory Council of Creative Capital, and a member of the Acquisitions Committee at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She served as an Advisory Board Member for the “30 Americans” exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art—a traveling exhibition presented by the Rubell Family Collection. Rountree has also served as Advisory Panel Member of CulturalDC, an Executive Board Member of the Howard University Porter Colloquium on African American Art, a Board Member of the Rush Arts Philanthropic Foundation, and a member of ArtTable.
Rountree is the third seasoned federal attorney to join Sanford Heisler Sharp as a partner this summer. Brent Hannafan, formerly an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, and Andrew Macurdy, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and, more recently, Senior Counsel to the New Jersey Attorney General, both came on board in June. Hannafan is resident in the firm’s Nashville office and Macurdy is resident in its New York office.
About Sanford Heisler Sharp
Sanford Heisler Sharp is a public interest and civil rights law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Baltimore, Nashville, and San Diego. The firm focuses on employment discrimination, Title IX, wage and hour, whistleblower and qui tam, criminal/sexual violence, financial services, and Asian American litigation and finance matters. Our lawyers have recovered over $1 billion for our clients through many verdicts and settlements.
In 2022, The National Law Journal named Sanford Heisler Sharp Civil Rights Firm of the Year, and it recognized the firm in 2021 as both the Employment Rights Firm of the Year and the Human Rights Firm of the Year. Law360 recognized the firm as Employment Practice Group of the Year in 2021, 2019, 2018, and 2016. Benchmark Litigation recognized the firm as the Labor & Employment Firm of the Year in 2021 and 2020.
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