Background
Nicole D. Faut joined Shelley Cupp Schulte, P.C. in May 2024 after maintaining a solo practice where she provided relentless worker advocacy to residents of the Shenandoah Valley.
She began her legal work in New York City representing low income individuals in nationally-recognized clinical programs, including the competitive Economic Justice Project and Workers’ Rights clinics at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. After law school, she relocated to Washington, D.C. to serve as a Legal Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center with the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund and Legal Network for Gender Equity, where she developed attorney resources and training materials, prosecuted workplace discrimination in federal litigation, and assisted national policy advocacy campaigns around sexual harassment. After her fellowship, she joined a prominent plaintiff-side labor firm in Washington, D.C., where she assisted in class-action litigation and represented public-sector unions and workers. The pandemic brought her and her family home to the Shenandoah Valley, where she expanded to general practice and continued to represent employees in employment disputes.
Nicole represents employees in discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal and state anti-discrimination statutes, in addition to handling other matters involving the employment relationship such as grievances, contract review and negotiation, and wage and hour issues.
Nicole obtained her J.D. from CUNY School of Law, where she was a Peggy Browning Fellow and leader in Student Government and other groups. Prior to law school, Nicole worked at the International Rescue Committee, after completing a Fulbright Research Fellowship to India. She completed her undergraduate work at Virginia Tech, where she was a Gates Millennium Scholar.
Education
- CUNY School of Law, Long Island City, New York, J.D., 2018
- Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, B.A. magna cum laude 2012
Admitted
- Virginia
- West Virginia (inactive)
- Washington, D.C. (inactive)
- New York
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
Publications
- “Trauma-Informed Representation – Practicing with Empathy,” Virginia State Bar Docket Call, April 14, 2023
- “TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund: #MeToo for Low-Wage Workers,” Impact Fund, April 19, 2019
Professional Memberships
- Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference, District 7 Representative
- Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association, President-Elect
Awards
- Pro Bono Service Honor Roll Member, 2022-2023
- Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference Significant Service Award, June 2023
Quotes
Service is the focal point of my education and experience. Virginia Tech’s motto is Ut Prosim, “That I May Serve.” CUNY Law’s motto is “Law in the Service of Human Needs.” I have always found my work to be most rewarding when I think of it as service: to my clients, to democratic ideals, to the laws that aim to protect justice, fairness, and equality. The needs of working Americans are many, and helping them resolve challenges in the workplace is a service that I am proud to dedicate myself to.
