Joy A. Kruse

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) and Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein LLP note with profound sorrow the passing of Joy Ann Kruse on May 22, 2018. We are honored to announce the formation of the Joy Kruse Gender Justice Memorial Fund to honor the memory of an extraordinary lawyer, treasured ERA leader and friend to many. Proceeds from the fund will be dedicated to the work of Equal Rights Advocates advancing and protecting the rights and opportunities of women and girls at work and school.

Joy served on the ERA Board of Directors and Litigation Committee from 2010 to 2016, during which she provided invaluable guidance to ERA’s gender justice programs, including its impact litigation defending the rights of women in low-wage industries.

Joy was most inspired to serve those in society of greatest need. She spent eight of her first 11 years of practice as a public defender, starting at the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., and later as a federal public defender in San Jose, where she tried countless cases on behalf of impoverished defendants. Joy spent the last 17 years of her distinguished career as a partner and senior leader at Lieff Cabraser, where she represented investors, workers, and other clients in complex plaintiff-side litigation, and where she led by example in significant pro bono civil rights litigation, including on behalf of prisoners challenging aspects of solitary confinement.

Joy was a tremendous friend and mentor, passionate feminist, avid dog lover, consumer and wry critic of both high- and low-brow culture, and someone who found great restoration in natural beauty.

Joy was also a staunch individualist, and a bit of an iconoclast who earned the title. We miss her, keenly, and take to heart her continual push for Equal Rights Advocates to run toward the hardest cases to help women and girls most in need.

Secure, tax-deductible donations to the Joy Kruse Gender Justice Memorial Fund may be made by visiting https://equalrights.org/ JoyKruse