FELLOWS IN THE NEWS

  • Kirsten Branigan (Montclair, NJ) was named to Insider NJ’s 2025 Powerful Women of NJ List recognizing some of the most influential and courageous women in the state of New Jersey. This year’s list was compiled by New Jersey Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter and highlights women advancing equity and strengthening democratic participation during a consequential year in New Jersey and beyond.
  • Barbara D’Aquila, (Minneapolis, MN) has been selected as one of Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year for 2025. Barbara has been recognized in the category of “Outstanding Service to the Profession” for her leadership and commitment to Minnesota’s legal community. She was recognized at an event held on February 5 in Minneapolis.
  • Kelly Dermody (San Francisco, CA) and Jenny Yang (Washington, DC) were keynote speakers at the 2026 General Justice Summit sponsored by the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law. The topic of this year’s summit was “New Developments in Discrimination and Harassment Law.” The annual conference brings together hundreds of leading attorneys and activists to discuss new developments in gender discrimination and harassment law.
  • Sarah Espinosa (Alexandria, VA) and Alan Symonette (Media, PA) were Instructors at the annual Labor Foundations of Arbitration course which took place at the Cornell ILR School in January 2026. The Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell ILR offers this opportunity to practitioners who are interested in exploring a labor arbitration practice, those who are actively planning to become labor arbitrators and newer arbitrators seeking to enhance their skills.
  • Congratulations to Gerald Maatman (Chicago, IL) on the publication of his newest book. The Employment Law Manual: A Practical Guide For Business Owners, Managers, And Executives guides “business executives and supervisors through the sticky thicket of US employment laws and the multitude of situations in which these laws impact job applicants, employees, and ex-employees.” Hardcover and Kindle editions are available on Amazon by clicking here.
  • Frank Mamat (Bloomfield Hills, MI) recently joined National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM) as a hearing officer. As a member of their esteemed panel, he will be available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout Michigan. Frank was also named to the 2025 class of “Go To Lawyers” in employment law as determined by Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW), an industry publication serving the state’s legal community.
  • Scott Mayer (formerly of Ridley Park, PA) was sworn in on January 7, 2026 as a Member of the NLRB, to a term expiring on December 16, 2029. Inducted a Fellow in 2024, Scott served as Chief Labor Counsel for The Boeing Company, where he was responsible for traditional labor relations work, including NLRB litigation, positive employee relations training and strategy, union contract interpretation and enforcement, labor arbitrations and compliance with labor laws.
  • Michael Mueller (Miami, FL) been inducted as vice president and president-elect of The Academy of Florida Management Attorneys. The nonprofit serves as a forum for the free exchange of ideas and knowledge as well as continuing education among senior members of the management labor and employment bar of the State of Florida. Mike has served as an officer of the organization since 2024 and has been a member since 2017.
  • Rosemary Pye (Chevy Chase, MD) was elected to the National Academy of Arbitrators’ Board of Governors for the 2026-2029 term. She currently serves as an arbitrator and mediator in the DC metro area and New England. Her practice spans both private- and public-sector cases. Before becoming an arbitrator and mediator in 2013, Rosemary had a 38-year career with the NLRB.
  • Gwynne Wilcox (New York, NY) was the first-ever guest speaker at Rutgers Law School’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Clinic. Gwynne provided a powerful example of leadership, integrity and service to the first cohort of RBG Clinic student lawyers. The clinic, which was reestablished in 2023, honors Justice Ginsburg who taught at Rutgers from 1963 to 1972.
  • Rick Bales (Ada, OH) was featured in the Fall 2025 edition of Converge for Impact discussing his recently published article Writing Effective Labor Arbitration Briefs. Click here to read the article and access Rick’s paper.
  • Jack Clarke (Hull, GA) was awarded the American Arbitration Association/International Centre for Dispute Resolution Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year. Criteria included a minimum of 20 years on the AAA/ICDR panel, consistently receiving high scores across all categories of client and staff surveys, strong record of reasonable fees for parties, significant contributions to the field of ADR, leadership roles and overall positive impact to the field and to AAA/ICDR.
  • Lori Deem (Chicago, IL) was recognized as one of the 2025 Women in Law honorees by Law Bulletin Media and Chicago Lawyer Magazine. This honor celebrates influential female attorneys who demonstrate exceptional leadership, meaningful mentorship, and significant contributions to the legal profession. Lori accepted her award during a ceremony on November 19, 2025.
  • Jeff Dretler (Boston, MA) has played a key role in planning and leading Northeastern University School of Law’s Annual Labor and Employment Program since 2020. He continued his involvement in this year’s program which took place on December 3rd and included panels on shifting federal labor and employment agencies under the second Trump administration and the growing scrutinty of DEI initiatives.
  • Jerry Hunter (St. Louis, MO) was awarded the Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service by the Eighth Circuit Bar Association during the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference this past August. The award is named in honor of former Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold who had a distinguished private practice career as well as prominent service on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The picture above shows, from the left, Chief Judge Stephen Clark (USDC ED Mo.), Olivia Hunter (Jerry’s daughter), and Jerry.
  • Vanessa Kelly (Princeton, NJ), along with her Clark Hill Law partner Peter Berk, wrote an article which was featured on Law.com, From Algorithms to Deepfakes: AI Risks EveryEmployer Must Confront.  Vanessa encourages companies to be prepared as AI infiltrates hiring systems and have a plan for detection and response to these threats.

    From Algorithms to Deepfakes: AI Risks Every Employer Must Confront| Law.com

  • Louis Lopez (Washington, DC) was awarded the Hugh A. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Award by the Hispanic Bar Association of DC. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the Hispanic community in the areas of equality, fairness and social justice. Recipients, whether an individual or an organization, demonstrate an unwavering commitment to and achievement in public service.
  • Hope Pordy (New York, NY) presented to the New York City Low Wage Workers Taskforce on “Protected Concerted Activity – Building Power in the Workplace” (10/28/25) to advise workers’ advocates and activist workers on the latest NLRB status and provide updates on the type of worker actions that are considered protected and concerted under the NLRA in both unionized and non-unionized workplaces.
  • Jason Schwartz (Washington, DC) was recently named a Law360 Employment MVP for the seventh time, after convincing Maryland’s Supreme Court to create new case law in favor of his client, Amazon, clarifying the state wage and hour statutes.
  • Don Slesnick (Coral Gables, FL) was honored during the Coral Gables Art Cinema’s 15th Annual Gala “Lights & Legacy” with the debut of the Don Slesnick Civic Vision Award. The award honors Don, former mayor of Coral Gables, who helped create the culture and civic that made such institutions possible, and will recognize future recipients whose leadership combines aesthetic vision with civic service.
  • George Washington. Jr. (Alexandria, VA) is serving a second term as a member of the Practical Law Labor & Employment Advisory Board and was featured in the November 2025 issue of Practical Law The Journal in their “Checking In” profile Checking In | Practical Law The Journal | Reuters.
  • Ferne Wolf (St. Louis, MO) was recognized as one of Missouri Lawyers Media 2025 Power List, which is a prestigious annual recognition of the most influential attorneys in Missouri, highlighting top lawyers across various practice areas and culminating in a “Top 100” list of the state’s most powerful figures.

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