Amanda M. Ghannam is a trial attorney representing workers in employment disputes, whistleblowers, survivors of sexual abuse, and victims of police misconduct
in negotiations and lawsuits in state and federal court. Amanda specializes in advocacy for clients experiencing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. She has secured numerous settlements for clients who were wrongfully terminated and has a record of success defending employees accused of breaching non-competition agreements.
Amanda has years of experience
representing victims and survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment. Amanda approaches her cases with a combination of expertise, compassion, and fierce advocacy to help her clients obtain not just compensation, but accountability and closure.
Amanda received the Detroit Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 2022 and was named a SuperLawyer Rising Star in 2023.
Amanda earned her Juris Doctor with a specialization in Labor, Work, and Income
from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. During her time at Northeastern, she worked at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, interned for the Eastern District of Michigan's Honorable Victoria Roberts, and clerked at two Boston labor and employment firms. Amanda then spent five years at a prominent Michigan employment and civil rights firm before becoming a founding partner of Schulz Ghannam PLLC.
Professional Associations
Michigan State Bar Labor and Employment Section
Michigan Association for Justice
Women Lawyers Association of Michigan
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Arab American Bar Association, Michigan Chapter
Detroit Bar Association
Legal Network for Gender Equity
National Lawyers’ Guild, Detroit/Michigan Chapter - Board Member
Palestinian American Bar Association
Bar Admissions
State of Michigan
U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court - Western District of Michigan
U.S. District Court - Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court - Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court - Northern District of Indiana
Speaking Engagements and Published Works
Supreme Court of Michigan amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Michigan Association for Justice in McMillon v. City of Kalamazoo, involving the important issue of shortened statutes of limitations in Michigan civil rights cases - June 2022
Article: “Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of Travel Ban” - Bender’s Labor & Employment Bulletin - March 2018
Presented to the New York Attorney General’s Office 2023 intern class on civil rights cases and practice - June 2023
Guest on Kendra Arsenault’s podcast, Imago Gei, regarding LGBTQ+ civil rights in religious institutions - interview published in Spectrum Magazine - March 2022
Speaker at Michigan Coalition for Human Rights event “Candid Conversations: A Youth Activism Perspective” - December 2020
Guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Human Rights course - October 2023, January 2024, April 2024
“Know Your Rights: Palestine in the Workplace” presentation at the Arab-American National Museum, October 2023
“Do’s and Don’t of Social Activism as an Employee” presentation with the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, November 2023
“Faculty & Staff Palestinian Solidarity: Activism & Academic Freedom Amidst Campus Repression” employment law webinar with National Lawyers’ Guild, December 2023
“Academic Freedom and Free Speech: The Palestine Exception” panel at the University of Michigan, February 2024
Awards and Honors
Detroit Bar Association - 2022 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award
2023 Thomson Reuters SuperLawyers Rising Star
2024 Thomson Reuters SuperLawyers Rising Star
Arab America Foundation - 2024 “40 Under 40” Award