DRI Faculty List
2021 Employment and Labor Law Virtual Seminar
May 27 - 28, 2021
Danielle (Dani) Berry, J.D. Wellworks Consulting
Danielle (Dani) Berry, J.D., is the Founder and Chief Wellbeing Officer at Wellworks Consulting, a company that provides legal and wellbeing consulting services to individuals and mindfully led organizations. Dani's mission is to help individuals thrive under stress, and organizations find solutions that maximize organizational and individual engagement and wellbeing. Before founding Wellworks, Dani practiced employment and commercial law for several years at a small boutique firm before joining Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. During her tenure at LBBS, Dani practiced complex defense and employment litigation while also assuming administrative management duties over the Atlanta office. In addition to her work at Wellworks, Dani is the managing attorney at Stanton Law, LLC where she provides practical solutions to employment law issues. She is a registered mediator, an active member of the Attorney Wellness Committee of the State Bar of Georgia and a certified yoga teacher. Dani received a BBA and JD from the University of Georgia. |
Anne Graham Bibeau Vandeventer Black
Anne Graham Bibeau is a partner with Vandeventer Black LLP in Norfolk, Virginia. She serves as the firm's labor & employment law practice group manager. She focuses her practice on labor and employment law, alternative dispute resolution, and commercial litigation. She serves an arbitrator and mediator and is on the American Arbitration Association's employment law panel. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the College of William & Mary. |
Alison B. Crane Jackson Lewis PC
Alison B. Crane is a principal in the Chicago office of Jackson Lewis P.C. With an exclusive focus on representing management in workplace law and related litigation, Crane defends employers before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. As a member of the Firm's Wage and Hour Practice Group, Crane devotes a substantial portion of her time to helping employers understand and comply with the complex laws regarding employee pay practices. When necessary, Crane litigates all manner of employee wage claims, including class-action and collective-action claims related to "misclassification" and "off-the-clock" work. Crane additionally has significant experience in other aspects of employment litigation, including matters involving race, sex, age, religion, national origin, and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliatory discharge, whistle-blowing, and family and medical leave. Crane has been named to the annual list of "Rising Stars" by Super Lawyers magazine, a distinction accorded to no more than 2.5% of Illinois lawyers, each year since 2014. |
Dessislava N. (Dessi) Day Greene & Roberts LLP
Dessislava N. (Dessi) Day has practiced law in California for 21 years, during which time she has represented employers in a wide spectrum of employment law disputes, including wage and hour class actions, representative actions, and individual claims for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation whistleblower, and trade secret violations. She counsels employers on employee discipline, leaves of absence, accommodations, compensation, and employment agreements. In addition to her law practice, Ms. Day is also actively involved in several professional organizations. She is the DRI Employment Law Committee Chair and has served on the DRI Employment Law steering committee for over a decade. |
Stanley E. (Stan) Graham Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP
Stanley E. (Stan) Graham is a partner with the Nashville office of Waller. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the DRI Employment and Labor Law Committee. Stan has extensive jury trial experience, including first-chair verdicts for Ford Motor Company, Dollar General, Logan's Roadhouse, and Federal-Mogul Corporation. He also has broad first-chair experience defending EEOC enforcement litigation, class/collective action claims, and arbitrations. He formerly served as Chair of the Tennessee Bar Association Employment Law Section, and he continues to serve on its Executive Council. He is recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA and has been twice named Nashville Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in the field of Labor Law-Management for 2017 and 2019. |
S. Gordon Hill Hill Ward Henderson
S. Gordon Hill is a shareholder with Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, FL where he focuses on employment litigation and counseling, as well as general restrictive covenant, trade secret, commercial and business litigation. Gordon has successfully defended clients in a wide variety of employment litigation, but also provides proactive counseling/solutions to help clients manage their employees and avoid litigation. Gordon is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, has been named to Best Lawyers in America - Labor and Employment, and is President-Elect of the Hillsborough County Bar Association. Gordon is a graduate of Wake Forest University (J.D.) and Vanderbilt University (B.A.). |
Helen R. Holden Spencer Fane LLP
Helen R. Holden practices in the Phoenix, Arizona office of Spencer Fane. Her practice encompasses assisting businesses of all sizes with both counseling and litigation involving a wide range of human resources and employment law issues. Her litigation experience includes defending individual and collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, bringing and defending restrictive covenant litigation, defending discrimination and harassment matters, and defending complex commercial and business disputes. Ms. Holden is rated as AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and is a 2020 Best Lawyers in America honoree. She is Chair of the Employment Practices and Workplace Liability Section of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. |
Demetrius O. Holloway Stites & Harbison
Demetrius O. Holloway is a seasoned litigator with over 18 years of experience. He represents employers in the defense of employment-based claims asserted under both Kentucky and federal law including, but not limited to, claims asserted under the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, Title VII, and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. His experience includes defending civil actions filed in both state and federal court, as well as defending against administrative actions before state and federal administrative agencies. He is also an affiliated member of the Business Litigation and the Torts & Insurance Service Groups having successfully defended civil suits involving personal injury, defense of product liability claims, breach of contract and common law tort claims. In addition to his litigation practice, Demetrius assist clients with drafting and implementing employee handbooks and other workplace policies, and also conducts on-site training on the issues of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. |
David M. (Dave) Kight Garmin International Inc
David M. (Dave) Kight is Assistant General Counsel– Employment & Regulatory Affairs for Garmin International, Inc. in Olathe, KS. He has more than twenty years combined law firm and in-house experience representing a diverse cross-section of companies both large and small. His responsibilities include: North American employment laws and procedures, Garmin's internal immigration team, and environmental and safety laws and procedures. In addition, he provides guidance on FDA medical device/wellness issues; and FCC and Global Positioning System spectrum issues. |
Eric E. Kinder Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC
Eric E. Kinder is a member at Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. His primary areas of practice are labor and employment law with emphasis on wage and hour, employee benefits litigation. Experienced in drafting and reviewing employment policies, practices and procedures, he offers advice and counseling on all labor and employment law issues. He has served as lead counsel in defense of employment discrimination complaints and general litigation matters, and is the Editor-in-Chief of AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT LAW (3d ed.). He is the Program Vice Chair for the 2021 Employment and Labor Law Virtual Seminar. |
J. Al Latham, Jr. Paul Hastings LLP
J. Al Latham, Jr. is a partner in the Los Angeles, California, office of Paul Hastings LLP, an international law firm. He was President Reagan's appointee as Staff Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and before that, was Chief Counsel to Member Patricia Diaz Dennis of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Latham has taught labor law at the University of Southern California School Of Law for over 25 years. He is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Mr. Latham received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Yale in 1973, and his J.D. degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1976. |
Jaime Walker Luse Tydings & Rosenberg LLP
Jaime Walker Luse is a partner in the Baltimore firm of Tydings & Rosenberg LLP. Ms. Luse defends businesses of all sizes in employment and commercial litigation. An advocate who has prevailed in many difficult trials, she has experience in the state and federal trial and appellate courts of Maryland, District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia. She is adept at negotiating with adversaries to resolve disputes efficiently on behalf of her clients. Ms. Luse defends employers against employment-related claims, including discrimination, wrongful discharge, harassment, and unlawful retaliation. She has also handled numerous commercial cases, including negligence, insurance coverage, breach of contract, and leasing disputes. Ms. Luse is a current member of the Law Institute for DRI. |
C. Stuart Mauney Gallivan White & Boyd
C. Stuart Mauney is a shareholder in the Greenville SC office of Gallivan White & Boyd. His practice is focused on defense litigation in the professional negligence, personal injury, and trucking law practice areas. His professional negligence practice is centered on the healthcare industry, especially nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Mauney has spent many years as a mental health advocate, including serving on the board of Gateway, a local non profit clubhouse that provides rehab services to the chronically mentally ill in the Greenville community. He also volunteers with the SC Bar Lawyers Helping Lawyers program, which provides resources, education and support to lawyers and judges who have a substance abuse disorder or mental health problem. He has previously served on the national ABA Advisory Committee for the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs. Mauney has been a frequent speaker on ethics and lawyer well-being at programs sponsored by the ABA, DRI, IADC, FDCC, and the South Carolina Bar, among others. |
Stacy L. Moon Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
Stacy L. Moon is senior counsel in the Birmingham office of Gordon & Rees and is a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group, as well as Employment Law, Construction Law, Government Regulatory & Administrative Law, Professional Liability and Cannabis, Hemp & CBD practice groups. Moon is an AV-rated attorney, with more than 20 years of primarily defense litigation, including commercial, construction, employment litigation, and professional liability defense. She focuses on the best outcome for her clients as defined by the client, whether creative and effective negotiation or litigating to and through trial and appeals. Moon is the Program Chair for the 2021 Employment and Labor Law Seminar. |
Hon. Beth Phillips United States District Court, Western District of Missouri
Hon. Beth Phillips was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 7, 2011. She was confirmed by the Senate on March 6, 2012 and received her commission on March 23, 2012. Before her judicial confirmation Judge Phillips served as the 32nd presidentially-appointed U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Missouri, and the first woman to be appointed to the office. She was sworn into office on Dec. 31, 2009. Phillips was appointed in August 2008 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the office's Computer Crimes and Child Exploitation Unit, where she prosecuted child exploitation crimes and served as the Project Safe Childhood Coordinator. She has been a trial attorney during her entire legal career, serving as Assistant Prosecutor in Jackson County, Mo., from June 1997 to August 2001, and in private practice from September 2001 to February 2008 with a Kansas City-area firm, where she represented plaintiffs in medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and product liability lawsuits. As a trial attorney, Phillips has tried approximately 40 cases to verdict, 90 percent of which were jury trials. She served on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA), a non-profit organization that exists to lessen the ill effects of sexual assault and violence through intervention, advocacy, education and treatment. She also served on the board of directors of the Child Protection Center, a child advocacy center that conducts forensic interviews and provides crisis intervention to children who have disclosed sexual abuse and their families. Phillips is a native Missourian and fourth-generation graduate of the Milan, Mo., school district. After earning a bachelor of arts degree and a master's degree at the University of Chicago, Phillips earned her juris doctor at the University of Missouri in 1996. |
Keith E. Sonderling Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Keith E. Sonderling was recently appointed EEOC Commissioner. Sonderling has served for the last several years in Washington recently finishing a tour as the Deputy Administrator of the US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. As a former private practice labor and employment practitioner, he will share his unique perspective on his time at DOL, and EEOC agency dynamics, initiatives, and enforcement. |