Ellen Pao, the former venture capital partner who made waves in Silicon Valley with a $16M gender discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is relying on Abernathy MacGregor Group for PR support.

ellen paoPao lost her suit against the vaunted VC firm at the trial level last month. Kleiner Perkins is now pursuing $1M in legal fees from her, unless she vows not to appeal.

Abernathy MacGregor executive VP Heather Wilson in Los Angeles speaks for Pao, who is now interim CEO of Reddit. She said Pao's legal team is weighing the offer.

The suit played into a top criticism of Silicon Valley's tech culture – that it is male dominated to the detriment of women. But the San Francisco jury found for Kleiner Perkins on all four of Pao's claims alleging that the VC firm discriminated and retaliated against her.

Christina Lee, the former Hulu communications chief who serves as Kleiner Perkins partner for marketing and communications, said the VC firm doesn't see a courtroom as the venue for change in tech. "We believe that women in technology would be best served by having all parties focus on making progress on the issues of gender diversity outside of continued litigation," she said.

Kleiner Perkins reportedly offered Pao $1M to settle the case before trial.