Olympias Iliana Konidaris

I have dedicated my practice to fighting for gender equality and justice. My clients are victims and survivors of gender-based discrimination and harm in all contexts: in the workplace, schools, athletics, and online. They come from all walks of life. They are academics, athletes, artists, executives, and entrepreneurs. They have experienced workplace discrimination or assault; sexual abuse or bullying from their coaches or teachers; and they have been trafficked for sex by their boyfriends, bosses, or beloved professors.

Together, we work closely to understand what justice should look like, and how we can achieve it. I look at my clients’ cases holistically and connect clients to the resources they need to thrive after some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. Gender-based discrimination and violence often feels isolating, and my goal is to use legal options to give agency and power back to my clients.

I came to this work a decade ago, when I joined a litigation team that filed suit against Backpage.com for sex trafficking. I worked closely with survivors who had been brutally exploited not just by traffickers but by a large corporation that ultimately pled guilty to human trafficking. Through that work, I saw the long-term effects of trauma, the incredible resilience of my clients, and what a client needs from her lawyer in the long term.

Over the course of these ten years, I have also proudly represented an Epstein survivor and a Fieldston survivor, and I proudly represent survivors in the Backpage remission process, a $215 million victim compensation fund administered by the Department of Justice. And as a civil and victims’ rights lawyer, I have the privilege to help my clients succeed in fighting for change, including by allowing girls in New York State to have equal access to contact sports.

In higher education matters, I represent professors, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students who are victims and survivors of gender-based violence or discrimination in disciplinary proceedings and litigation, including at NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Pratt Institute, The New School, and CUNY, as well as Harvard, Penn, Duke, and many other institutions across the country. I represent families with children in New York City public schools and elite New York City private schools.

I have been recognized multiple times by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Civil Rights Law (2021–2026). My work has appeared in People, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and many other outlets. I am the Co-Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Sex and Law Committee (2026–2028), a NELA/NY member, and a frequent speaker on gender-based violence and the law.

Some of my recent representations in employment discrimination and sexual assault matters have included:

• Doe v. Sigma Chi, et al. (N.D.N.Y. 2023): campus assault and hazing at Syracuse University in 1991, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act (2026, amount undisclosed)
• Workplace sexual harassment, campus assault, and sex trafficking by a professor: $625,000 (2026)
• Workplace sexual harassment: $525,000 (2025)
• Workplace sexual harassment and sex trafficking by small-business owners in New York: over $675,000 recovered (2024 and 2025)
• Campus hazing: over $1.3 million (2024)
• Campus sexual assault and harassment of female graduate students by a tenured professor: $1.95 million (2023)

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Iliana is not licensed in the State of Michigan.