NELA
Empowering Workers' Rights Attorneys
Presenters/Small Group Facilitators
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Kathleen M. Cahill
Law Offices of Kathleen Cahill, LLC
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Kathleen M. Cahill
Kathleen M. Cahill is proud to be a second-generation litigator. Kathleen focuses her practice on employment law matters, as well as sexual misconduct and serious injuries. Kathleen is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Baltimore Law School, where she was awarded the Faculty Honor Award. Kathleen returned to the University of Baltimore Law School as an adjunct professor to teach trial advocacy for many years. Kathleen engages in volunteer and community service, including service on the Boards and committees of the Maryland State Bar Association, the Maryland and American Associations for Justice, the National and Maryland Employment Lawyers Associations, and the Baltimore City Bar Association. Kathleen Cahill has been honored by Super Lawyers every year since 2007, as well as by The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2009. For fun and fortitude, Kathleen works out daily.
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Christine T. Elzer
Elzer Law Firm, LLC
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Christine T. Elzer
Christine T. Elzer is the Managing Attorney of Elzer Law Firm, LLC in Pittsburgh. She primarily represents workers in discrimination, wage and hour, and non-compete cases. She handles all aspects of employment cases, from pre-litigation through trial and appeal. She is also a trained mediator and regularly mediates employment and other civil disputes. Christine has been a member of NELA’s Board since 2020. She is the Co-Chair of NELA’s Amicus Advisory Council and a member of several Committees, including the Judicial Nominations and Fundraising Committees. She is the former Chair and current Amicus Chair of the Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association (WPELA); a member of NELA-Eastern Pennsylvania; and a former Board Member of the Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania. She is an elected member of the prestigious Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, where she chairs its Federal Practice Committee. She is also a Fellow in the Wendell G. Freeland Society, a litigation excellence society in Western PA. Christine regularly presents on advanced employment law and litigation topics to local and national audiences. She was recognized by Best Lawyers in America for 2025, and was selected Pennsylvania Super Lawyers for 2023-2025, after spending twelve consecutive years on its Rising Stars list.
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Megan S. Goddard
Goddard Law PLLC
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Megan S. Goddard
Megan S. Goddard is an employment discrimination lawyer devoted to protecting equality in the workplace. Megan obtained a historic $13,400,000 verdict in the Mayo-Coleman vs. American Sugar sexual harassment matter. She is heavily involved in the fight against Forced Arbitration (and thinks you should be too) and has several current sexual assault cases under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, including cases against NBC and Eric Adams. Megan was recently named on the Forbes 2024 America’s Top 200 Lawyers List. She is a former board member of the New York chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA-NY). Megan practices her negotiation skills daily by trying to win arguments with her formidable three-year-old daughter. Megan attended Tulane Law and is a huge fan of New Orleans.
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Mariyam Hussain
Berger & Montague, PC
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Mariyam Hussain
Mariyam Hussain is Senior Counsel at Berger Montague’s Chicago office. In the Employment Law practice group, Ms. Hussain primarily focuses on wage and hour class and collective actions arising under state and federal law. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Hussain developed interdisciplinary impact litigation cases and legal strategies to advance economic and social justice. She also represented migrant farmworkers in Illinois, filing cases alleging racketeering, human trafficking, forced labor, and FLSA violations. Ms. Hussain has represented workers in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for more than a decade. Ms. Hussain received her JD and BA from DePaul University College and her MA from the University of London.
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Jennifer I. Klar
Relman Colfax PLLC
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Jennifer I. Klar
Jennifer Klar is a Partner at Relman Colfax. Jennifer joined the firm in 2004. Her civil rights practice focuses on complex litigation, including class actions, multi-plaintiff cases, and cases with significant discovery. During her time at the firm, Jennifer has litigated complex civil rights cases in employment, housing, disability, and lending discrimination. For more than a decade, she led the firm’s team representing a nationwide class of African-American Special Agents of the United States Secret Service claiming racial discrimination with respect to promotion by the Secret Service. In 2017, the parties reached a settlement that included monetary relief of $24 million and wide-ranging changes to the Secret Service’s promotions practices. Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate at Hogan & Hartson LLP where she served on the investigation and habeas corpus hearing team in the landmark Tulia, Texas, case, which resulted in the release from prison of 12 individuals and full pardons for 35 individuals who were wrongfully convicted solely on the basis of testimony by an unreliable and racist undercover narcotics task force agent. Jennifer has been repeatedly recognized by her peers for her skill and commitment in her civil rights work. She has been listed in Washingtonian’s Best Lawyers for Plaintiff-side Employment Law, selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer in Civil Rights in Washington, D.C., and included in The Best Lawyers in America™ in the field of Civil Rights Law. In 2017, she was named the Washington Metropolitan Lawyers Association’s “Lawyer of the Year.” Jennifer has twice been a finalist for Public Justice’s “Trial Lawyer of the Year,” recognizing her work on the cases in Tulia and Zanesville.
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Andrew Lacy
The Lacy Employment Law Firm
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Andrew Lacy
Andrew Lacy is the owner of The Lacy Employment Law Firm. He has experience trying cases in both federal and state courts. His time as a law clerk to the Hon. Cathy Bissoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania sharpened his trial advocacy skills. Recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers, Andrew won his first trial less than a year out of law school, representing a pro se prisoner in federal court who had not conducted any discovery. He was also the captain of the mock trial team and is a graduate of Cornell Law School.
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Ben Lebsack
Lowrey Parady Lebsack DeFazio
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Ben Lebsack
Noted Cool Runnings and Grant Green enthusiast, Ben Lebsack is a partner at Lowrey Parady Lebsack DeFazio, LLC, in Denver, CO, where he litigates a lot of harassment claims and weird state law class actions. He is the first vice president of NELA. He’s proud to work with the people he works with. Along with his partner Ariel, he wrote a Colorado Labor & Employment Law Treatise for Lexis. He’s optimistic about artificial intelligence given its ability to say objectively something Ben has thought for years.
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David L. Lee
Law Offices of David L. Lee
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David L. Lee
David L. Lee has practiced and taught law for almost 50 years, for most of which he has concentrated on representing employees. David was on the Board of Directors of national NELA from 2007 through 2017 and served as its President from July 2013 through June 2015. Among other positions with national NELA, David served as co-chair of its National Litigation Strategy Project. David was also on the Board of Directors of NELA/Illinois from 2000 through 2017, was President of NELA/Illinois from 2005 to 2007, and was Vice-President of NELA/Illinois from 2003 to 2005. David also was a Hearing Officer for the Cook County Commission on Human Rights from 1992 to 2015, was elected a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 2008, is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, has been on the Labor and Employment Law advisory committee for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and has been named a “Leading Lawyer” and a “Super Lawyer” in the field of employment law. From 1984 to 1991, David was a full-time clinical professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law’s nationally-recognized clinic on employment discrimination with fellow NELA/Illinois members Richard Gonzalez and Ronald Schwartz. David speaks frequently to lawyers and human-resources personnel on employment law and has published many seminar papers and some law review articles on that topic. David has also spoken and published on civil procedure, legal writing, and other aspects of the practice of law. David received the highest possible score (800) on the national Law School Admission Test and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1977 magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. David also attended Northwestern University for undergrad, where he claims to have majored in the game of chess and ended up rated an “expert” by the U.S. Chess Federation, but actually graduated with a B.A. in History.
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Rebecca Peterson-Fisher
Katz Banks Kumin
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Rebecca Peterson-Fisher (they/she)
Rebecca (Becky) Peterson-Fisher (they/she) has focused their practice on litigation that advances social justice, whether by challenging corporate polices, securing justice for victims of wage theft, or holding harassers accountable. Becky has represented a wide range of employees, from executives at publicly traded companies to fast food workers, and has successfully achieved both seven-figure settlements and substantive changes to policies and practices. Becky is a Partner at Katz Banks Kumin LLP and handles both individual and class action cases. Prior to joining Katz Banks Kumin, she was a Partner with Liu Peterson-Fisher LLP, a Bay Area employment and civil rights law firm that merged with Katz Banks Kumin in 2023. Becky has been thrice-named one of the Top 75 Labor & Employment Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal and is past Chair of the Alameda County Bar Association Labor & Employment Executive Committee.
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Austin D. Skelton
The Lacy Employment Law Firm LLC
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Austin D. Skelton
Austin D. Skelton is an Associate at the Lacy Employment Law Firm. Austin graduated from Monmouth University and from Villanova Law. Aside from his career as a lawyer, Austin is also a certified professional coach. Austin is an active member at his local church and sits on the board of the New Jersey Orators, a nonprofit helping youth develop public speaking skills. Lastly, Austin is a cat dad that loves traveling, outdoor activities, basketball, watching New York sports, and spending quality time with his friends and family.
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Rachhana T. Srey
Nichols Kaster, PLLP
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Rachhana T. Srey
Rachhana T. Srey is a partner at Nichols Kaster, PLLP whose practice is primarily dedicated to class and collective action employment litigation. Rachhana primarily handles large-scale wage and hour cases and has tried several class and collective cases in federal court and participated in numerous arbitration proceedings in recent years. She has been a zealous advocate for thousands of employees over her 20 years of practice, representing a wide variety of workers in many industries including employees who work in healthcare, insurance, financial services, communications, retail, manufacturing, security and also federal sector employees. Rachhana’s exceptional case management and advocacy skills, dedication to her clients, and hard work ethic have earned her the respect of her clients and of her colleagues in the legal community. She is active in several organizations, having served in leadership roles as a Board member for the National Employment Lawyer’s Association (“NELA”), is a current Co-Chair of NELA’s Wage & Hour Committee and Practice Group, and is a past President of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. Rachhana is often asked to participate in coordinating and planning of national CLE programs and is a sought-after speaker both nationally and locally on a wide range of topics including wage and hour litigation and trials, arbitration, class action litigation strategies, case management, discovery issues, and recent developments in the law.
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Brooke C. Timmer
Timmer, Judkins & Borland, PLLC
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Brooke Timmer
Brooke C. Timmer is a partner in the law firm of Timmer, Judkins & Borland, PLLC, practicing exclusively in employment law, including civil rights, discrimination, retaliation and other wrongful termination claims, including whistleblower claims. Brooke graduated magna cum laude from Wartburg College and with honors from Drake Law School, where she served as Student Bar Association President during the 2005-06 school year. She is on the Board of Governors for the Iowa Association for Justice and also on the membership committee for the National Employment Lawyers Association. To date, Brooke has tried 18 employment jury trials and obtained awards ranging anywhere from $65,000 to $4,500,000. Brooke is married to her husband Josh and together, they are raising two daughters who are spirited, compassionate and eager for a dog. The girls will have to learn how to advocate better than their mother for this to ever happen.
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Stephanie K. Wood
Wood Win Justice
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Stephanie K. Wood
Stephanie K. Wood is Of Counsel with Ogborn Mihm, LLP and is also available as a trial consultant for plaintiff’s lawyers. Ms. Wood has honed her persuasive advocacy skills through extensive high stakes litigation experience and now focuses on whistleblower and qui tam claims, employment disputes in the private sector, and discrimination claims in educational settings. Ms. Wood has successful national trial experience in several multi-million dollar lawsuits, including achieving a jury verdict of $3.45 million in a whistleblower claim under the D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act. She is co-counsel for another whistleblower trial scheduled for August 2025. Ms. Wood keenly understands what is persuasive to stakeholders and factfinders and has substantial trial experience in both state and federal courts, including a ten-week federal jury trial. She believes that being an effective advocate involves guiding clients through unfamiliar and challenging terrain to reach the most constructive and cost-effective result given the circumstances. Ms. Wood has a national practice, is based in Denver, holds state licenses in CO, DC, and MD, and is a member of the respective federal courts in each jurisdiction.
Small Group Facilitators
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Obinna I. Abara
Abara Law Firm, PLLC
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Obinna I. Abara (Obi)
Obinna I. Abara (Obi) is the owner and managing partner of Abara Law Firm, PLLC. Obi is very heavily involved in the Pennsylvania Bar Association and currently maintains leadership positions as Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Labor and Employment Section’s Past Chair, PBA’s Co-Vice Chair of the Federal Practice Committee, PBA Labor and Employment Section’s Delegate; Council Member in the PBA’s Civil Litigation Section and Trustee of the PBA Insurance Fund and Trust Fund. Obi is also a member of the National Employment Lawyer’s Association. He is also Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service. He is a graduate of Temple University with dual degrees in Real Estate and Finance. In 2012, Obi started Abara Law Firm where he has and continues to represent private and public sector employees prosecuting claims of workplace discrimination Obi maintains a niche practice representing federal employees, across a myriad of federal agencies, in seeking redress under anti-discrimination laws. Obi enjoys giving back to the community by participating in various volunteer and service projects sponsored by his fraternal organization, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He also has a strong interest in developing and shaping the minds of Philadelphia youth, and has worked in conjunction with the College Access Program and Philadelphia Cares through various speaking engagements and community efforts. Obi is a Director Emeriti of the Seybert Foundation- independent charitable foundation dedicated to providing support to nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged children and youth in the City of Philadelphia.
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Walt Auvil
The Employment Law Center
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Walt Auvil
Walt Auvil practices at The Employment Law Center in Parkersburg, WV, where he practices with his son and fellow NELA member Kirk Auvil. He is a 1981 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law. Auvil was the first West Virginia lawyer to be inducted as a a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a professional association honoring leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of Labor and Employment Law. Auvil is the past Chair of the West Virginia State Bar Employment Law Committee. He is a founder of the West Virginia Employment Lawyer Association, the State affiliate of the National Employment Lawyers Association. He also edited the West Virginia Employment Lawyers Association Employee Advocate – the State association newsletter – for over fifteen years. Auvil was a member of the Board of Directors of Workplace Fairness, a national non-profit organization, for over twenty years. The goal of Workplace Fairness is to educate workers about workplace rights and options for resolving workplace problems and promoting the view that fair treatment of workers is both good business practice and sound public policy. Auvil has been named one of the “top ten” lawyers in West Virginia. From 2001 to 2004, Auvil served as a gubernatorial appointee member of the West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board, serving as the Board’s Chairman from 2003 to 2004. Auvil has authored and edited several articles and treatises on civil procedure and employment law and has spoken to state and national employment lawyers association gatherings on both civil procedure and employment law topics.
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Heather Leonard
Heather Leonard, PC
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Heather Leonard
Consistently recognized as one of the top employment lawyers in Alabama, Heather Leonard has been handling employment law matters for employees since 1998. She has been ranked as one of the Top 25 female attorneys as well as one of the Top 50 overall attorneys in Alabama by Thompson Reuters’ SuperLawyers publication. She has an A-V rating through Martindale Hubble. Her firm has also been ranked as a Tier One provider of employment law services by U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Law Firms.”
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Summer H. Murshid
Hawks Quindel, SC
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Summer H. Murshid
Summer Murshid is Shareholder at Hawks Quindel’s Milwaukee office and leads a team of employment and wage and hour lawyers. She and her team represent clients in a wide range of employment issues, including sexual harassment, discrimination and severance negotiations. She also represents clients in wage and hour class actions. She serves on the Executive Committee and Executive Board for the National Employment Lawyers Association, heads the Wisconsin Election Protection Legal Coordinating Committee and is a founding Board member of the Milwaukee Diaper Mission. In an effort to maintain work-life balance, you can find her on weekends with her husband trying to manage the youth sport schedules of their 3 kids and keep track of 2 crazy little dogs.
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