Barbara Kaye Besser
Ms. Besser graduated magna cum laude from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University (1973). She received a B.A. from Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. (1970). She has more than 30 years of experience as an active litigator in the areas of gender and employment discrimination.
Ms. Besser began her professional career as a Staff Attorney and then as the Director of Litigation of the Women's Law Fund, a Ford Foundation grantee litigating sex discrimination cases. (1973 to 1983) During this time she also taught legal writing and supervised legal clinic students as a member of the Adjunct Faculty of the Cleveland-Marshall School of Law.
From 1983 to 1989, she served as a Trial Attorney with the Cleveland District office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While at the Commission she received both individual and group performance awards. Ms. Besser entered private practice in 1989.
Ms. Besser is a member of the bars of: Ohio Supreme Court (1973); Supreme Court of the United States (1977); U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (1973); Southern District of Ohio (2003); U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1975); U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1977); U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1990); and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1991).
She has written in the area of employment law as well as related topics. She is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars on employment issues. And, she served as program chair for the OSBA’s 2003 and 2004 Midwest Labor Law Conference.
Ms. Besser is Vice Chair and immediate past Secretary of the Certification Board for Labor and Employment of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Chair of the Certification and Contracts Sub-Committees. She is also Secretary and immediate past Chair of the Specialization Committee and immediate past Chair of the OSBA’s Labor and Employment Council.
Ms. Besser has been a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union (where she served 2 terms as state President). Ms. Besser is a Fellow (Class of 2005) of the Ohio State Bar Foundation and has been named an Ohio "Super Lawyer" since 2005. She was recognized as one of Cleveland’s Best Lawyers for 2009. Only a handful of attorneys receive these honors each year. Ms. Besser is a member of the Committee of the newly formed Cleveland chapter of the American Constitution Society. She is a Master of the Bench of the Cleveland Employment Inn of Court.
She is individually AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Send E-Mail to: bkb@elfvinbesser.com