Jeanne-Marie Almonor

Jeanne-Marie Almonor Biography

Jeanne-Marie Almonor is an accomplished civil rights lawyer who co-wrote, directed and produced the recently released and critically acclaimed feature film "JUSTICE." JUSTICE was filmed in Minnesota and stars Hollywood actors. JUSTICE is an inspirational drama about a lawyer who challenges a criminal justice system that prizes efficiency over real justice. The film explores themes ranging from broad contemporary social issues to the challenges facing a young couple balancing career and family.

As a civil rights attorney, Ms. Almonor was co-lead counsel in NAACP v. State of Minnesota and Xiong v. State of Minnesota, two historic school desegregation cases that resulted in major settlement agreements benefiting thousands of children of color. Ms. Almonor has worked in private legal practice as a litigator and negotiator, representing large corporate clients and handling high profile public interest litigation for more than a decade. Ms. Almonor is also co-founder of Alignor, LLC, a company that specializes in applying an interest-based approach to negotiations and conflict resolution. Ms. Almonor is a 1991 graduate of Harvard Law School, where she studied with Professor Roger Fisher, co-author of the seminal work on interest-based negotiating, Getting to Yes.

A native of Haiti, who grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn, Ms. Almonor moved to Minneapolis in 1991 to practice law. As an attorney, Ms. Almonor has pioneered innovative and effective approaches to civil rights work. For example, Ms. Almonor organized community rallies and protests over the inadequate and hyper-segregated Minneapolis public schools in the late 1990s.

In the mid-1990s, Ms. Almonor served as a high ranking business executive at the Mexican entertainment conglomerate, Grupo Televisa. Since then, she has helped clients implement an interest-based approach to negotiations and decision-making in large organizations. Ms. Almonor has conducted negotiation training workshops for hundreds of attorneys, business people, community members and other negotiators.

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