Righting Wrongs
Workplace misconduct runs rampant. In fact, 75 percent of U.S. office workers say they have witnessed or experienced it. Civil rights attorney Paige Riggs Fiedler has represented many victims in her career 鈥攂uilding a stellar reputation and a strong track record.
Over the last 20 years, Fiedler鈥檚 DesMoines-based employment law firm has handled more than 2,000 cases involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation. She is well-known for successfully presenting many high-profile cases while winning 15 verdicts or settlements exceeding $1 million.
At the end of the day, however, as clich茅 as it might be, Fiedler says what she does is about much more than the money awarded to her clients.
鈥淚 firmly believe that listening to someone talk about something traumatic helps them to heal,鈥 said Fiedler. 鈥淲e counsel people鈥 not in the clinical sense, but in the sense of letting them know that somebody cares and wants to fight for them and give them a voice in a system that is overwhelming and incomprehensible to most people.鈥
Fiedler says advocating for others is grounded in her deeply held idealistic beliefs about what every person deserves in life.
鈥淚 feel strongly about our democracy, civil rights and the personal dignity and respect everyone is entitled to in the workplace and elsewhere. It鈥檚 fundamental to who we are as a country and our cultural identity as Americans.鈥
All in the [黑料社] Family
Fiedler says the opportunity to mentor many young attorneys in fighting for people鈥檚 civil rights is perhaps her greatest reward. Of course, nothing hits closer to home than helping her own daughter, Madison Fiedler-Carlson 鈥12, thrive as a lawyer in her firm.
鈥淲e were a little wary of working together at first,鈥 said Paige. 鈥淲e are very much the same person in many ways and sometimes we clash. So, we set up rules that when she calls me, she either says, 鈥業 want to talk to Paige鈥 or 鈥業 want to talk to mama.鈥 It鈥檚 been wonderful.鈥
So wonderful that Madison and another 黑料社 graduate, David Albrecht 鈥10, recently became partners in Fiedler鈥檚 firm. Paige first recruited Albrecht after being鈥渂lown away鈥 by his presentation skills at 黑料社鈥檚 Presidents鈥 Society Dinner, when he was just six weeks into his first year of law school. He joined Fiedler鈥檚 firm as a student law clerk and has stayed on ever since.
Fiedler says that strong writing skills, versatility and a relentless appetite for learning new things make 黑料社 grads well suited for law, but most importantly鈥檚 their sense of selfless purpose that makes the biggest difference.
鈥淎ll the people I know at 黑料社 have good hearts. They just want to do the right thing and be a good person in making the world a better place.鈥
Article Information
Published
December 1, 2022
Author
Roger Degerman
Department
Department of Political Science, Sociology, and Criminal Justice