Amanda A. Farahany

Amanda has established a reputation for taking and winning cases that defy the odds.  The media follows her cases.

• She achieved the highest verdict in a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case in the nation
• She achieved the largest libel verdict for a single plaintiff in Georgia.
• She tried the first Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act case in 2015 to a verdict of $2.25 million, ensuring that genetic privacy will be taken seriously by all companies.

Through both her cases and her legislative efforts, Amanda advocates on behalf of individuals and strives to enact legal change for all employees who face similar hardships.

In 2013, Amanda published a study analyzing and exposing how the courts handle employment discrimination that deny plaintiffs the right to have their cases heard by a jury. The study generated national interest and dialogue, from Huffington Post articles by retired federal judges to local television coverage of the debate between Amanda and a defense attorney about the role of the jury and judge in employment cases. The study is now featured in several scholarly articles and books. Since the original study, Barrett & Farahany has been working with academics to provide an online database demonstrating how sexual harassment and discrimination cases are handled by the federal judiciary.

In addition to her law practice, Amanda has served as the President of various law organizations: the Atlanta Bar Association’s Labor & Employment section, the National Employment Lawyers Association in Georgia, and the Atlanta Council for Younger Lawyers. Additionally, among others she has served in these roles:

• Co-chair of the American Association of Justice Wage and Hour Litigation Group
• Executive Board Member of the Atlanta Bar Association
• Chair of the Inadequate Security Litigation Group for the American Association of Justice
• Member of the Executive Committee to the Atlanta Bar Association
• Member of the Advisory Council to the National Crime Victim Bar Association
• Board member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Crime Victim Advocacy Council, State Bar of Georgia Younger Lawyers Division, Public Affairs and Press Advisory Board to the American Association of Justice, and several domestic violence and women’s rights organizations.
• Founding member of Water-Life-Hope, a non-profit organization that works to bring running water to the impoverished in Haiti.

A sought-after speaker and commentator, Amanda has been featured as a legal “thought leader” in publications and news segments. Human resource professionals and employment defense attorneys regularly seek her out as a presenter. Amanda has spoken and been published extensively regarding employment law cases related to sexual harassment, overtime and employment, civil justice for crime victims and sexual assault, and more. She has been published by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Association for Justice, the National Crime Victim Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and many others.

For more information about her many speaking engagements, click here.

Amanda has been an invited faculty member for the Emory School of Law Trial Advocacy Program and for the National Employment Lawyers’ Association Trial Boot Camp. She was one of a selected few employment lawyers asked to serve on the Eleventh Circuit Committee to revise the Pattern Jury Instructions on employment-related issues. An experienced trial lawyer, Amanda has been awarded status as a Fellow of the National College of Advocacy by the American Association of Justice. This designation signifies her commitment to the effective representation of her clients and her dedication to achieving a high level of competence. Additionally, Amanda is a Fellow of the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia. Membership in the Fellows Program is an honor that recognizes lawyers whose public and private careers demonstrate outstanding legal abilities and devotion to their communities.