An Upcoming Trial Will Ask A Manhattan Jury A Tricky Question: How Do You Feel About Wall Street?

• Kathryn Shiber's lawsuit against boutique firm Centerview sheds light on the hours junior employees work.
• Lawyers plan to ask prospective jurors how they feel about Wall Street — and its work culture.
• The trial is scheduled to begin in Manhattan federal court on February 23.

A lawsuit offering a rare look at the daily grind of junior investment bankers is scheduled to begin next week, and court documents suggest that potential jurors will be asked to reckon with their relationship to Wall Street culture.

The case hinges on Kathryn Shiber, who alleges that boutique investment bank Centerview Partners violated disability discrimination laws when it fired her because she couldn't consistently work into the early morning hours. Shiber joined the firm as a junior banker in July 2020, after graduating from Dartmouth College. After a few consecutive days working past midnight, she said told human resources that she had to get between eight and nine hours of sleep each night because of an underlying mood and anxiety disorder, and got approval for some accommodations. In September, the New York-based firm fired her because she could not perform the essential job functions, according to her suit.

The proposed voir dire questions — the screening questions lawyers use to assess whether potential jurors can be impartial— hint that Wall Street's notoriously grueling culture will be on display once the trial kicks off.

"Do you feel it is fair for an employer to expect that employees work long or unpredictable hours if employees are compensated for those hours?" Centerview proposes asking in its voir dire document.

Centerview has also proposed asking potential jurors whether they have "any opinions or beliefs about Wall Street, the finance industry, or investment banking" that would impact their impartiality. Shiber's lawyers take it a step further, proposing that they ask specifically whether jurors have "strong opinions" about investment banking or "people who work" in the industry.

Depositions filed in the case indicate that junior bankers, formally known as first-year analysts, should expect to work between 60 and 120 hours per week. Hours are unpredictable and can stretch into the early morning, Tony Kim, then a partner and now the co-president of investment banking at Centerview, said in his deposition. 24-hour days are possible, but rare, he said, adding that juniors staffed on an active deal are expected to check in before going to sleep.

"Junior bankers obviously don't need permission to go to sleep, but are expected to work together and communicate properly with teammates," Centerview told Business Insider in a statement. Shiber's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Both sides have also proposed quizzing jurors on mental health and discrimination. Centerview's attorneys, for example, have proposed asking potential jurors whether they have ever requested accommodations at a job for a disability or filed a grievance for employment-related reasons.

"Do you think today's employment laws make it too easy for an employee to sue an employer for discrimination?" Shiber's lawyers proposed asking.

Junior bankers' mental health came under intense scrutiny in 2024, after Leo Lukenas III, an investment banking associate at Bank of America, died. Some firms implemented policies they said would help track and limit hours. But 2026 is expected to see an M&A boom, potentially pushing junior bankers to log even more hours as deal activity picks up.

Jurors could also be asked about Centerview bankers who might come up at trial. The voir dire questionnaire from Shiber's lawyers shows they have considered asking about Robert Pruzan, the firm's cofounder and a well-known M&A banker.

Wall Street, known for its high pay, has at times become a cultural flashpoint — most notably during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests over the financial crisis. More recently, President Donald Trump has introduced a policy that he has said will lower costs for everyday Americans by capping the interest banks can charge on credit cards to 10% for a year.

All the while, finance titans are earning record pay, and Americans' relationship to capitalism itself is changing — meaning that answering voir dire questions about the people who dot the halls of prestigious firms may not be a simple task.