Eight Bailey Glasser lawyers were included in the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers List. This year’s honorees include partners Brian A. Glasser, Mark Boyko, Sharon F. Iskra, Cary Joshi, D. Todd Mathews, Gregory Y. Porter, and David L. Selby II and Of Counsel Aliya Khalidi.
As written by Lawdragon in announcing these awards:
We’re honored to introduce The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers.
This is our 9th edition of this guide to the courageous advocates who are there for victims of discrimination, sexual abuse, police misconduct, civil rights violations and other unconscionable behavior. And right now, we maybe should give them a hand. They continue to fight the fight in some very bleak times – at least for those of us who believe in equality, civility, opportunity and all that.
Brian A. Glasser is a founding partner of the firm and has been repeatedly recognized by Lawdragon as a “Top 500 Litigator in America” and a 2026 Lawdragon “Leading Lawyer in America,” among many other recognitions. Brian’s work benefits people across the country, including men and women injured by talc baby powder, harmful chemicals like weed killers, and veterans injured by defective combat earplugs. In 2025, Brian successfully co-led the trial team on behalf of the Coalition of Counsel for Justice in Talc Claimants in the third “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging injury by the company’s talc products. Brian has been Chambers-ranked for over two decades and has tried cases in 18 different states, including two mass actions and six class actions.
Mark Boyko represents clients in actions brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). He has secured judgments and settlements in this area exceeding $500 million and handled successful appeals in federal circuit courts as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Mark is part of the litigation team appearing before the Supreme Court of the United States in the autumn 2026 term against the Intel Corporation.
Sharon F. Iskra is a partner and the leader of Bailey Glasser’s Institutional Abuse and Neglect team. A nationally recognized advocate and voice for the vulnerable, she litigates cases for children, individuals with special needs, and others who have been abused, neglected, or exploited in institutions. She won millions for two disabled and non-verbal minors abused by staff at a care facility and she is a member of the team fighting for justice for thousands of survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Maryland’s juvenile detention centers.
Cary Joshi is the firm’s Commercial & Environmental Litigation Practice Group Leader who leads national litigation teams in high-profile lawsuits across the country. Cary fights to protect the rights of student-athletes across the country whose Title IX rights have been violated, including being part of teams that have won major, ground-breaking settlements at Brown University, the College of William & Mary, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, East Carolina University, Dartmouth College, the University of St. Thomas, La Salle University, Dickinson College, Florida State University, and the University of Central Oklahoma. Recently, Cary led the team that forced Marshall University to not eliminate its Women’s Swimming and Diving Program in 2026.
Aliya Khalidi is a member of the firm’s nationally-recognized Mass Torts Practice Group, where she represents individuals harmed in institutional settings or through other wrongful injuries. Her work includes representing hundreds of childhood sexual abuse survivors across multiple states, including Maryland and Illinois. Aliya is a skillful trial lawyer who has handled complex investigations, trials, negotiations, and appeals as a prosecutor for over 13 years. In her work, she handled federal and state misdemeanor and felony criminal investigations, motions practice, and jury trials. She also has deep experience in appellate litigation, including appearing before three-judge panels.
D. Todd Mathews leads teams that have been fighting for justice on behalf of thousands of victims of sexual abuse in Maryland, Illinois, and beyond. During the past two decades, Todd Mathews has secured numerous multimillion-dollar trial verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients, successfully representing plaintiffs nationwide across product liability, personal injury, employment, sexual abuse, class action, mass tort, and whistleblower cases. Notably, he was apart of the team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants in defeating Johnson & Johnson’s third “Texas Two-Step” bankruptcy, with the court dismissing the $10 billion plan over improper voting practices and overly broad non-debtor releases.
Gregory Y. Porter is the Practice Group Leader of our nationally award-winning ERISA practice group. Greg has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of employees who lost retirement savings in 401(k) plans and ESOPs and has fought from trial courts all the way up the Supreme Court of the United States to protect their financial interests. This year, Gregory is preparing to head back to the Supreme Court of the United States in a major ERISA case against the Intel Corporation.
David L. Selby II leads Bailey Glasser’s nationally recognized Mass Torts Practice Group, representing individuals injured by dangerous and defective products such as talc, asbestos, hernia mesh, combat earplugs, and defective firearms. He was part of the trial team that defeated Johnson & Johnson’s third “Texas Two-Step” bankruptcy—a proposed $10 billion plan to shift liability for more than 90,000 cancer claims; when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed the case over improper voting practices and overly broad non-debtor releases. David also secured what the International Business Times called a “landmark legal concession” from Taurus International Manufacturing in a $239 million class action settlement over defective pistols, and is part of the team fighting for survivors of childhood sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers across multiple states.
Congratulations to all the lawyers receiving this recognition. To see the full list, please visit this link.
