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Justin joined RDDHI as an associate in 2014 and quickly proved himself as a skilled attorney in the field of toxic torts, products liability, commercial litigation, and employment law. He became a member of the firm in 2020 and currently serves as Rasmussen Dickey Dioszeghy Henry Ijei’s General Counsel.

Justin’s trial and litigation experiences have led to favorable outcomes for his clients, along with a nomination to the National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40. Justin was part of the RDDHI team that delivered a Missouri Top Defense Verdict in 2017. He has demonstrated outstanding ability and performance throughout his early career.

Justin has demonstrated leadership as the chair of RDDHI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. The committee seeks to develop the careers of young, diverse, or disadvantaged associates and to foster a safe and welcoming environment for all. Justin has helped to mentor associates on their path to leadership within the firm.

Presentations

Developing leaders.

Justin leads in the courtroom and out: delivering results for clients, and coaching a new class of diverse associates to become the first class litigators and trial attorneys that make RDDHI stand out in a crowded field. Let Justin take the lead on your case.

Education

  • St. Louis University

    Juris Doctor 2011

  • University of Illinois

    Bachelor of Arts 2007

Admissions

  • State of Missouri
  • State of Illinois

RDDHI's Knowledge Blog Posts by Justin U. Ijei

RDDHI handles employment and labor law cases, including compliance with ADA regulations.

On July 26th, 1990, one of the most transformative pieces of civil rights legislation was passed into law: the Americans with Disabilities Act, otherwise known as the ADA. The ADA was created to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all other public and private areas opened to the public. Today many of us can see the effects of the ADA just by walking into a building or riding public transportation.

The ADA is divided into five sections to protect individuals with disabilities in different areas of life:

  • Title I: Employment
  • Title II:  Public Services: State and Local Government
  • Title III:  Public Accommodations and Services by Private Entities
  • Title IV: Telecommunications
  • Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions

The ADA does not provide an exhaustive list of conditions that are protected under the act. Some believe the ADA was designed to be incomplete so that it could be expanded and include new disabilities. For example, in July of 2021, President Joe Biden announced that individuals suffering from serious long-term COVID-19 could qualify as disabled under the ADA.

Employers’ Obligations under the ADA

Many ADA lawsuits filed against businesses are based on allegations of discrimination, which include allegations relating to Title I of the ADA. Therefore, it is crucial for employers to understand their rights and obligations under the ADA.

Continue reading How To: ADA Compliance for Employers
Missouri recently enacted legislation protecting businesses from COVID-19 liability.

As states across the country ease out of COVID-19 restrictions, many state legislatures are passing laws to protect businesses from COVID-19 liability. Various chambers of commerce and pro-business groups across the country have been proponents of such protections and have pushed their state legislatures to pass laws to protect businesses. So far, 30 states have enacted statutes that provide businesses with some type of shield against COVID-19 liability suits. 

On July 7th, 2021, Missouri became the next state to protect businesses, healthcare providers, and manufacturers from COVID-19 liability. Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 51 into law, protecting businesses, premises owners, and healthcare providers from personal injury suits arising from COVID-19 exposure unless a plaintiff can show clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s reckless or willful misconduct caused the exposure to the virus.

The Missouri law establishes a rebuttable presumption of risk by a plaintiff in an exposure claim when they enter the premises that has warning signs posted. The law also shields manufacturers from product liability claims stemming from items used to protect against COVID-19 exposures.

The proponents of this bill hope that this law will provide businesses with some type of relief from the pandemic as the potential for COVID-19-related lawsuits looms. The new law will go into effect on August 28th, 2021. As the Missouri Constitution does not allow for legislation to be applied retroactively, the new law will not affect claims filed prior to August 28th.

This law does not completely shield businesses from liability. So, it is extremely important for businesses to have the right counsel to help them comply with federal, state, and local laws in order to be protected.  The attorneys at RDDHI have broad experience in the fields of premises liability, products liability, and more. We can assist your business in maintaining compliance or defending against claims. Contact RDDHI today.

Protect yourself from liability.

RDDHI’s attorneys can help you make sure you’re compliant with state laws and avoid costly COVID-19 lawsuits. And should a claim arise, we’re prepared to defend your business.

Contact RDDHI

Statue of Thurgood Marshall in Annapolis Square.

To celebrate Black History Month, we’ve studied freedom suits and the Dred Scott case at St. Louis’ Old Courthouse and examined diversity issues among small and mid-sized firms. Today, RDDHI attorney and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee chair Justin Ijei reflects on the life and achievements of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man to serve in the position.

Although Thurgood Marshall is well known as being the first Black Supreme Court Justice, Marshall was a stellar attorney whose work became a pillar for the civil rights movement. In fact, Marshall argued 32 cases in front of the Supreme Court, the most anyone has argued in history. Of those 32, his clients prevailed in 29.

Continue reading Celebrating the Life of Thurgood Marshall
RDDHI is taking steps to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at or firm. Smaller and mid-sized firms face challenges when it comes to diversity, but steps can be taken to build a more diverse firm culture.

Many businesses, including law firms, recognize the benefits of promoting diversity and inclusion in the workforce. Successful law firms will have attorneys from diverse backgrounds that better represent the clients and communities they serve.

What Are the Challenges for Smaller Firms?

Today, nearly every large law firm in the United States has a diversity and inclusion department. With their wealth of resources, the big law firms can allocate significant amounts of time and money to diversity and inclusion efforts. Many of the larger firms have diversity directors with extensive training and experience, and that experience often commands hefty salaries that are not in the budget for small, mid-sized, and growing firms. Diversity directors can devote themselves full-time to addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in recruiting and retaining diverse attorneys and staff, as well as guiding community outreach. 

However, small-to-mid-size law firms are sometimes challenged by the limited resources they can allocate to diversity and inclusion efforts. To address these challenges, many law firms must depend on their own attorneys to take action to improve their diversity and inclusion efforts within their firm and their profession. Despite the limited resources, small and mid-sized law firms still have the capability to achieve a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture within their firms by taking a variety of steps.

Pursuing Diversity at RDDHI

To be dedicated to our clients, we understood that we had to become advocates and make a commitment to diversity that promotes the employment and advancement of individuals with different backgrounds and experiences. While employing candidates with a variety of backgrounds is the start, we know that once an associate decides to work with us, it is our job to make sure that they receive adequate support to become a successful attorney.

To accomplish these goals, RDDHI conducted several listening sessions with our diverse associates to ask them what diversity, equity, and inclusion meant to them and how our firm could best serve them. These were not the easiest conversations to have. Having just elected our first Black equity member and having just one current female equity member, our firm still had work to do to reach our stated goals of creating equitable opportunities for younger and diverse associates. We could not be blind to the disparity at the leadership level and needed to confront it head-on to consider strategies to bring about improved results for our firm.

RDDHI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

In 2019, Rasmussen Dickey Dioszeghy Henry Ijei established our Diversity Committee. We had recently hired several new associates who represented the most diverse part of our law firm. Soon after, RDDHI expanded the scope of the committee and renamed it Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

To improve equity efforts, there must be a buy-in at every level of the firm. RDDHI attorney Justin Ijei, our firm’s first Black equity partner, was chosen to chair our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. The committee worked to define terms, discussed how to put words into action, and built trust to accomplish difficult tasks together in a transparent way.

Words into Action

As a result of our committee’s discussions and work, RDDHI is implementing several new initiatives in 2021:

  • Renewing efforts to recruit and retain diverse candidates
  • Creating a mentorship program to help with career development, explicitly aimed at advocating for personal business development
  • Developing opportunities for young diverse attorneys to network
  • Celebrating diverse heritages, cultures, and religious practices through firm-wide education
  • Training employees on the importance of DEI
  • Collecting data and tracking the success of these efforts

Our leadership knows that it is imperative that these initiatives are effectively implemented. Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the firm is not just a feel-good pursuit. Our clients, our communities, and our attorneys require progress toward a more just and equitable future, and that progress starts with us in our offices. RDDHI is excited to put these initiatives into practice and strengthen our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in 2021 and beyond.

How To Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Smaller Law Firms

All law firms, regardless of size, have the ability to foster an inclusive and diverse culture within their firm. While smaller firms may not have the deep pockets to implement the types of diversity programs that larger operations have, simple steps can be taken to build a more inclusive and diverse firm.

Identify and Listen To Diverse Voices

The first step is to identify voices within your firm that may not have been heard previously. Ensure that attorneys and staff from diverse backgrounds have a seat at the table. Take time to listen to these voices and accept difficult constructive criticism. Acknowledge the challenges that attorneys of diverse backgrounds face within the firm, in the legal industry at large, and in life in general.

Develop Measurable Actions

It is easy to pay lip service to the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Likewise, it is easy to get bogged down in your firm’s day-to-day business. However, to ensure that your firm is moving in the right direction, your firm must commit to concrete and measurable actions and outcomes.

With your diverse attorneys taking the lead, determine what actions the firm can take to break down barriers to success. RDDHI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee identified business development as an area where diverse attorneys could benefit from one-on-one mentoring and tracking results over time.  RDDHI has implemented a quarterly mentoring program to supplement annual reviews where mentors will discuss with associates their current workload, client contacts, and plans for unique business development opportunities specific to their own career desires and skills.

Continue the Process

We realize the importance of building an inclusive culture at our firm and understand the time and commitment required to make sure the firm continues to progress. We highly recommend that other small and mid-sized firms doing this work continue to listen, measure the successes and failures of their efforts, and make the necessary adjustments to improve. Pursuing these efforts will be both challenging and rewarding. There is always room for improvement, and it is essential that we collectively continue to listen to diverse voices both within and without the office. Every firm, no matter the size, has a role to play in making the practice of law more equitable.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

RDDHI believes that small and mid-sized firms can also have an impact on building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable legal industry. See what we’re doing to foster a diverse firm culture at RDDHI.

DEI at RDDHI

A doctor treating a patient for COVID-19. When employees infected with COVID-19 at work then infect members of their family at home—"take-home" exposure—then employers may become liable for the illness. Photo courtesy of the US Navy.

A new trend relating to COVID-19 lawsuits is emerging. Employers are now facing lawsuits for “take-home” infections.

In August, the daughter of Esperanza Ugalde filed a lawsuit against her father’s employer, alleging that her mother died of COVID-19, which her father contracted during the scope of his employment at a meat processing plant. The complaint alleges that Ricardo Ugalde worked as a butcher and was “shoulder to shoulder” with his coworkers while working on the processing line. The plaintiff further alleges that the meat processing plant was aware that other employees had become infected with COVID-19 but took no measures to mitigate the spread within the facility.

The complaint includes several negligent actions against the employer. Some of those actions include failure to warn when it knew or should have known of a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility and actively creating a risk of harm for its employees and those with close contact with those employees by not disinfecting the facility nor providing personal protective equipment (PPE).

View the full Ugalde v. Aurora Packing Company complaint here.

Take-Home Exposure Pre-COVID

This idea of “take-home” exposure is nothing new. In fact, asbestos litigation has been dealing with these types of cases for quite a while. Praedicat, a firm that evaluates risks for insurers, states that 7% to 9% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths are believed to come from take-home infections. The firm further believes that if American fatalities reach 300,000, businesses could see a cost of up to $21 billion in litigation

To be successful, the plaintiff must show a strong causal chain that connects the sick family member to the worker and then to the employer and the employer’s allegedly negligent actions. Despite this hurdle, businesses should still protect themselves by establishing proper safety procedures for their employees by following CDC guidelines, OSHA regulations, and state and local laws.

Employment and labor law.

Justin Ijei and the Employment Law team at RDDHI can help your business eliminate potential risks before they arrive.

Contact RDDHI