Tiseme Zegeye

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office, Tiseme Zegeye represents consumers, employees, and the injured in individual, complex, and class actions. Tiseme specializes in women’s health, civil rights, and environmental justice cases, including representing women and families in fertility and gynecologic cancer matters, representing rideshare passengers who were sexually assaulted by drivers, and representing the injured in water contamination and wildfire cases. Most recently, Tiseme has taken a lead role within Lieff Cabraser’s fertility practice, assisting hopeful parents seeking justice from fertility companies and IVF supply manufacturers including Pacific Fertility Center, Prelude, Chart, CooperSurgical, and Ovation for failures that occurred during their fertility journeys. Tiseme is a board member of the Lawyering Project, a reproductive health, rights, and justice organization and co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee.

Prior to joining Lieff Cabraser, Tiseme was a Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York, where she litigated to protect access to abortion. Previously she was a Legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project in New York, where she worked to fight gender discrimination in employment, education, and housing.

Tiseme earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law, where she won the BLAPA Kim Barry ‘98 Memorial Graduation Prize for academic excellence and commitment to international and human rights work, as well as a Dean’s Scholarship. During law school, she worked with the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, interned with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and was active in the Black Allied Law Students Association and the Women of Color Collective.

Prior to attending law school, Tiseme earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in political science and sociology from the College of William and Mary, where she won the Benjamin Ewell Award for outstanding leadership and service to the College.

Classes & Seminars

•Committee Co-Chair, Speaker, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law National Conference on EEO Law, March 2026
•Chairperson, “Fertility Negligence: Successful Litigation Strategies and Considerations,” Practising Law Institute Program, October 2025
•Committee Co-Chair, Speaker, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law National Conference on EEO Law, March 2025
•Speaker, “CooperSurgical Litigation” HarrisMartin MDL Conference NYC, December 2024
•Speaker, “Cooper IVF Litigation (MDL 3122 - In re: The Cooper Companies)” HarrisMartin MDL Conference Nashville, September 2024
•Speaker, “IVF/Fertility Litigation: Negligence and Product Liability,” CAOC Palm Springs Seminar, May 2024
•Speaker, “Defending Diversity in a Downturn,” The Bar Association of San Francisco, December 2023
•Speaker, “Gender Pay Equity Here and Abroad,” American Association for Justice Winter Convention, February 2021
•Panelist, “Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the Workplace,” American Bar Association 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2020

Honors & Awards

•“Lawyers on the Fast Track (Personal Injury),” California Legal Awards, Law.com & The Recorder, 2026
•“Ones to Watch,” Best Lawyers, 2021-2025
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2025
•“Lawdragon 500 X - The Next Generation,” Lawdragon, 2023, 2024
•“Top 40 Under 40 Lawyer,” Daily Journal, 2022
•“Unity Award,” Minority Bar Coalition, American Constitution Society, 2021

In the News

•April 28, 2026
Lieff Cabraser Recognized Across Multiple Categories in the 2026 California Legal Awards
•February 5, 2026
Lieff Cabraser Partners To Chair and Speak at ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law National Conference on EEO Law
•October 9, 2025
Tiseme Zegeye Chairs PLI Program on Successful Litigation Strategies in Fertility Negligence Cases
•August 8, 2025
Ten Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Recognized by Lawdragon as “Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers” for 2025
•March 5, 2025
Tiseme Zegeye Addresses Legal Challenges for IVF Patients with Bloomberg Law