12. Plaintiff Houck attended Georgetown University Law Center, where she was an Editor on the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy.7 After graduation in 2011, Plaintiff Houck passed the bar exam and was sworn into the California Bar later that same year.  13. Plaintiff Houck joined Steptoe & Johnson on May 1, 2013, after having worked as a litigation associate for the previous two years.8  14. Plaintiff Houck was initially given the title of “contract attorney,” with an annual salary of $85,000. She was told by the Century City Managing Partner that the firm would consider changing her title to “associate” after her first year at the firm.  15. Curiously, Steptoe explained that while Plaintiff Houck would be identified as an “attorney” on all external correspondence and on the Firm’s website, internally and on the Firm’s intranet, she would be identified as an “associate.”  16. Apart from unequal pay, Plaintiff Houck otherwise received the same benefits provided to all associates.  73. Plaintiff alleges violations of the federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) on behalf of: any woman employed by Steptoe & Johnson LLP at any time during the applicable liability period as a contract attorney and/or associate (the “Nationwide EPA Class”).  74. Members of the Nationwide EPA Class were not compensated equally to males who performed equal work based on Steptoe’s common and centralized employment policies, procedures and practices and/or were denied assignment, placement, promotion and/or advancement opportunities that would have resulted in greater compensation in favor of less-qualified males based on Steptoe’s common and centralized employment policies, procedures and practices.  Federal Equal Pay Act Claims are Brought on Behalf of a Nationwide Class  Plaintiff Houck’s Experience at Steptoe 