In 1984, Naida B. Axford of Tempe, Arizona, and Paul H. Tobias of Cincinnati, Ohio, met with a handful of other employee rights attorneys in Chicago during an American Bar Association convention to discuss a visionary concept: the creation of a nationwide organization specifically to support attorneys who advocate for workers.

That meeting was the genesis of the Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association (PELA), which was launched shortly thereafter by a dozen plaintiffs’ employment lawyers from nine states during the March 1985 ABA Labor and Employment Law Section meeting in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The founding members of PELA envisioned that this new bar association would provide the assistance and information sought by attorneys representing individual employees, particularly in wrongful termination cases. It soon became a strong professional network for the effective sharing and support of ideas, successes, problems, and frustrations and would serve as an instrument for advancing public policy and legislation affecting the rights of workers.

In 1990, PELA changed its name to the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) to represent the growing national scope of its membership and held its first Annual Convention.

The cornerstone of NELA is, and always has been, community. Among the original goals set at the inaugural meeting of PELA is the “PELA Pledge”: Members agree to receive calls from fellow members and render assistance. The devices used to share information have changed since 1985, but the guiding principle remains the same: NELA’s greatest strengths are the generosity and collective power of our community of workers’ rights advocates.

1985
Transforming the American Workplace
Transforming the American Workplace

A dozen plaintiffs’ lawyers from nine states form the Plaintiffs’ Employment Lawyers Association (PELA). By the end of the year PELA has 100 members.

1986
Amendment to the ADEA

PELA lobbies Congress to support an amendment to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) to eliminate the mandatory retirement age of 70, and to oppose amendments that would abolish the right to a jury trial and liquidated damages for willful violations of the ADEA.

1987
Friend of the Court

PELA files its first amicus curiae brief, Harbison-Walker Refractories v. Brieck (U.S. Supreme Court, 1987)

1989
Protecting Whistleblowers

PELA lobbies Congress to pass stronger protections for whistleblowers in the Environmental Health & Safety Whistleblower Protection Act

1990
PELA Becomes NELA
PELA Becomes NELA

PELA changed its name to the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) to represent the growing national scope of its membership and held its first Annual Convention, “Just Cause Conspiracy,” in Lake Tahoe.

1991
Headquarters Moves To San Francisco

NELA’s headquarters is established in San Francisco, CA and Terisa E. Chaw is hired as NELA’s first Executive Director.

1991
Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice
Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice

NELA unveils its three-volume treatise, Employee Rights Litigation: Pleading and Practice with Janice Goodman as General Editor

1992
Technology Strengthens Our Network

NELANet, an electronic bulletin board system, is created to help members share practice tips, strategies, case law, and client stories.

1992
Educating Congress on Forced Arbitration Begins

NELA conducts a public education campaign to build awareness in Congress about the injustices of compulsory arbitration of employment claims in the securities industry

1995
Expanding the Forced Arbitration Campaign

NELA expands its campaign to oppose binding mandatory arbitration of employment claims in the securities industry by challenging pre-dispute mandatory arbitration imposed on workers as a condition of employment or continued employment