Member

Rochelle S. Eisenberg

“The law is the easy part. You learn that in law school. It is understanding the facts of each case, looking at events and incidents through other's eyes, being willing to change your position, and crafting satisfactory resolutions to clients' problems that is most challenging. You can only obtain those skills through experience.”

Rochelle Eisenberg is a Member of PK Law and practices in the firm’s Education and Labor and Employment Groups. Ms. Eisenberg’s experience includes: Representation of private and public sector clients on behalf of management with experience before federal and state courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, various state and city human relations commissions (employment and fair housing cases), National Labor Relations Board, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Maryland State Board of Education, Office of Administrative Hearings, and other administrative agencies; experience and training as a mediator (1977-Present).

Her school law experience includes representation of colleges and universities, Superintendents and/or local boards of education in Allegany, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Garrett, Howard, Kent, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Talbot, Washington and Worcester Counties and others; involvement in all areas of special education and the education of students with disabilities (attendance at IEP and 504 meetings, mediations, hearings, federal and state court litigation); regular involvement with issues dealing with student rights and discipline, student services issues, abuse investigations, all facets of employment law, collective bargaining, impasse arbitration, First Amendment cases, wage and hour matters, contract interpretation, the handling of arbitrations and mediations, and drafting legislation(1977-Present).

Ms. Eisenberg was the first recipient of the Carl W. Smith Excellence in Education Award presented in 2014 by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education for her “exemplary leadership and service to public education in Maryland.”

A native Washingtonian, Ms. Eisenberg resides in Fulton, Maryland. Her late husband, Dr. Stephen Eisenberg, was engaged in a private dental practice and taught at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, where he was a member of the Dean’s Faculty. She has 3 children – one received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from NYU and works for Hulu; one served as a cryptologist in the United States Navy, graduated from UMBC, and works as a legislative aide in Annapolis; and one graduated from the University of Hartford-Connecticut and works in human resources. Her hobbies include tennis, travel, and reading.

Education

American University Law School, J.D., 1977
Staff member, The American University Law Review
University of Maryland at College Park, B.S. with high honors, 1974
Phi Kappa Phi
Kappa Delta Pi
Mortar Board

Bar Admissions

Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States District Court for the District of Maryland

Bar Associations

Member, Maryland State Bar Association (Member, Labor Law Section)
Member, Women’s Bar Association
Former Member, Maryland State Bar Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution

Community Involvement

Member, Maryland Council of Local School Attorneys, (Past President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer)
Member, National School Board Association Council of School Attorneys
Member, Maryland Association of School Personnel Administrators (First Honorary Member)
Member, Leadership Howard County
Election Judge, Howard County, Maryland (2008 – present)
McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College (Guest lecturer – school law)
Johns Hopkins University (Guest lecturer-sexual harassment and school law)
Counsel, Sigma Delta Tau National Sorority
Former Board Member, Temple Isaiah (Fulton, Maryland)
Former Member and Volunteer, Parent Teachers Association
Former Girl Scout Leader and Assistant Leader (Columbia, Maryland)
Former Board Member, Red Cross (Howard County, Maryland)
Former Vice President and Trustee, National Sigma Delta Tau Foundation
Former National Advisor, National Officer, and National Convention Chairman, Sigma Delta Tau

Additional Information

Presentation of over 500 seminars, locally and nationally, to private and public sector employers, local school systems, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, MICPEL, Association of School Business Officers, Maryland Negotiation Service, and Office of Administrative Hearings on various topics, including personnel issues, special education, Section 504, employment discrimination, observation and evaluation of employees, sexual harassment, hiring and discharging of employees, staff-student relations, and analysis of miscellaneous laws (Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act)
Best Lawyers – Education Law, 2021-2023

Published Articles

Maryland Bar Journal, March 2016, The Crossover between Family Law and Education Law
Coauthor: Maryland School Law Deskbook (published by LexisNexis)
Maryland Bar Journal, March/April 2009, Special Education Law
Frequently quoted by national newsletters and local newspapers