Bernadette C. Sargeant
Equity Partner – Stinson LLP
Description of field of expertise
Bernadette has extensive trial experience and experience conducting sensitive internal investigations, frequently guiding clients through a variety of situations, including government investigations and audits.
Her employment and white-collar litigation experience, as well as her time as counsel to several government agencies, including the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the Ethics Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, combine to make her an ideal workplace investigator, sensitive to the myriad issues that arise in internal and government investigations and ongoing operations under consent decrees. While she works with a range of employers and organizations, she has particular experience with energy companies, having previously served as an attorney with the Enforcement Division of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In addition to a lengthy litigation career, including time as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Bernadette has conducted internal investigations of various kinds including workplace investigations for employers. She leads clients through government investigations and helps them comply with codes of ethics and conduct and other compliance requirements.
What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?
Employment lawyers are a hybrid of specialists and generalists. Most of the employment lawyers I know of who work with organizational clients such as corporations or non-profits are capable of providing most day-to-day counseling on situations that may pop up in a client’s Human Resources Department, for example. Most would also be competent enough litigators to handle administrative or judicial litigation in non-class action employment matters. But most also develop through experience or study or a combination of both, areas in which they have more specialized knowledge. I have particular experience with investigations, both conducting them and guiding clients through them when they are conducted by government agencies. I also have experience handling jury trials involving potentially inflammatory allegations. I would advise new attorneys interested in specializing in employment to seek opportunities to develop specialty areas, as well as gaining a general competence in various employment law areas.
Final thoughts…
Be deliberate about maintaining your competency and skills. Learning doesn’t stop because you’ve finished law school. Skills and competence are the foundation of good lawyering. Lawyers are society’s caretakers with ethical codes that guide responsibilities to their clients. You’re not just a revenue generator you are a trusted counselor.