Susan Ritz has practiced employment law since 1985. She is a partner in the law firm of Ritz Clark & Ben-Asher LLP. Ms. Ritz handles all forms of employment-related matters, including advising employees and partners regarding their rights, duties and entitlement to benefits; handling contract, severance agreement and partnership dispute negotiations; and representing employees and partners in negotiations, mediations, administrative proceedings, arbitrations and lawsuits encompassing a full panoply of employment-related issues, with special emphasis on claims of unlawful harassment, retaliation and employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, age, disability, religion, marital status and sexual orientation .
Ms. Ritz provides neutral mediation services, and conducts impartial internal investigations on behalf of employers into alleged discriminatory conduct. She also advises non-profits and employers on employment-related issues and represents employers in severance negotiations. She offers harassment and discrimination prevention training to management and employees, as well.
Ms. Ritz has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1997, the New York Super Lawyers since 2006, the Bar Reg-ister of Preeminent Women Lawyers since its inaugural edition in 2011 and Top Women Lawyers in the Northeast since 2011. She is also rated AV by Martindale Hubbell. She has published articles and lectured widely, including for the National Employment Lawyers Association / NY, American Bar Association, and Practising Law Institute.
Ms. Ritz serves as a pro bono mediator for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and teaches deposition skills to the Trial Practices Class at CUNY School of Law. She is a former member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Employment Lawyers Association/NY and current member of the St. John's University School of Law Center for Labor and Employment Law.
Ms. Ritz graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law in 1983, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar and a member of the Order of the Coif. She graduated from Brown University in 1978 with an Honors B.A. in Ethics and Political Philosophy. Ms. Ritz is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of the state of New York, the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.