About Inga
Inga Bernstein entered law after an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College in 1984 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1994. She moved quickly from law school into a federal clerkship. In 1994 she clerked for the Hon. Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Her clerkship was brief but formative. The following year she joined Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP and became a partner in 1995. That early move into partnership set the course of a career spent largely in private practice, handling litigation and courtroom work for clients in the Boston area and beyond.
Bernstein is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and before the First Circuit. Those admissions frame the range of matters she takes on. She has argued in state and federal trial courts and handled appeals in the federal circuit.
Her professional affiliations run across several local and national organizations. She holds memberships in the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association, the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She has been a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association since 2014. She also belongs to the Boston Bar Association, a membership she has held since 2008, and to the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 1995. These memberships reflect a practice shaped by employment disputes, civil liberties, and criminal-defense issues.
Colleagues describe Bernstein as steady and deliberate in the courtroom. She is known for preparing cases thoroughly and for a methodical approach to litigation. She pairs attention to procedural detail with readiness to test legal issues when necessary. Over the years she has handled contested hearings, jury trials, and dispositive motion practice in both trial and appellate settings.
Outside casework she has engaged with bar groups and professional events in Boston. She has participated in panels and discussions connected to employment law and civil liberties. That work has kept her connected to developments in employment statutes and federal court procedure.
She continues to practice at Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP in Boston. Her practice concentrates on employment litigation and civil rights matters, representing individuals in disputes that arise under state and federal employment and civil-rights laws.
