Bettina Plevan, a top litigator who made her name defending employers in sexual harassment and gender discrimination cases, and who helped pave the way for women to advance in the legal profession after shattering glass ceilings herself, died on Oct. 29 at a hospital in Manhattan. She was 75.
The cause was acute myeloma leukemia, her law firm, Proskauer Rose, said in an announcement.
In nearly 50 years at Proskauer, where she was the first woman to be named partner in the litigation department, Ms. Plevan (pronounced PLEH-vin) specialized in labor and employment law. Her clients included well-known companies in areas including banking, publishing and entertainment. Some of her cases grabbed headlines, like those on behalf of Penthouse magazine and the Metropolitan Opera, and some set legal precedent.
She was also president of the New York City Bar Association, the second woman to hold that position. Over the years she made multiple lists of the best lawyers in America.
Ms. Plevan was hired by Proskauer in 1974 as an associate and named partner in 1980, a meteoric rise that she attributed to hard work and ambition.
“I decided I wanted to be a partner shortly after I got here — by nature I have a lot of drive, I’m competitive and I have a lot of energy,” she told The New York Times in a 2006 article about the dearth of women partners at the nation’s biggest firms.
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