2020 Annual Convention (Bundle)

LGBTQ workers are often faced with harassment in the workplace, discrimination in hiring, firing or promotion, and inadequate healthcare coverage from employers. With a minority of states providing non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ workers, attorneys often use cutting edge legal interpretations and arguments to represent these clients. Our panel of experts discusses the current patchwork framework surrounding protections for LGBTQ workers, and how the Supreme Court decision in the Bostock, Zarda, and Harris cases will change the landscape.

This panel discusses the frequent areas where disputes tend to arise and/or where early discovery is key for later success: (a) discovery about arbitration formation in connection with a motion to compel; (b) representative discovery (how do you make a discovery plan and how to you field employers' attempts to cherry-pick or make representative mean "all"); (c) common discovery disputes in wage and hour cases; and (d) discovery for purposes of calculating damages including what discovery you need to prove willfulness.

This panel is for those who want to expand their practices to represent federal employees on their EEO claims or need the latest update on the recent decisions affecting Federal sector EEO claims. Seasoned practitioners and an EEOC judge explain the practice and procedures you need to know to represent federal employee competently and aggressively at all stages of EEO claims, and how to evaluate a possible jump to federal court.

This session equips plaintiffs’ employment lawyers both new and seasoned with the information they need to identify, issue-spot, and analyze problems related to employee benefits. Topics include (a) what kinds of benefits fall under which laws, and how to tell which you are looking at; (b) important things to know about claims for benefits under ERISA, including steps to take and scope of remedies; (c) important things to know about plan administrators’ fiduciary duties, the most common ways they breach those duties, and scope of remedies for those breaches.

Implicit bias can be an integral thread in your case – from the employment decision that led your client to seek representation, all the way to how the judge or jury decides the case. This session focuses on how practitioners can recognize the ways in which implicit bias impacts a case, use implicit bias research to explain these concepts to judges & juries, & bring attention to the unconscious biases of an employer.

This session explains why you should use focus groups and mocks, how to set them up, ways to conduct the focus group/mock, and what to do with the information once you get it.

Being a plaintiffs’ employment lawyer can be a difficult path, with the odds rarely in your favor. This session focuses on how to be personally fulfilled & healthy as an advocate, while also managing & marketing your law practice in a successful way.

A spate of recent federal and state court decisions have created this world in which it is now common practice to deprive workers of their right to a jury trial, even for egregious harassment and discrimination claims. But all is not lost. This is a pragmatic discussion about ways to defeat forced arbitration clauses and offer strategies for success in arbitration, focusing in particular on the unique considerations present in harassment and discrimination cases.

Proving damages is essential to litigating any successful employment case. Our panel of experts address the most effective ways to prove economic & non-economic damages, including when & how to use experts, and how to ask judges & juries for money, both in jurisdictions where asking for a specific amount is allowed & jurisdictions where it isn’t.

E-discovery continues to be a vital and emerging area in the practice of employment law. This introductory level panel provides the technical vocabulary & knowledge to help you recognize what you need to ask for, and how to ask for it.

Can the defense prevent plaintiffs' lawyers from speaking with witnesses just because the witnesses are employed by the employer? Does it matter how high-level the witness is or what role they play in the case? Can we, or defense lawyers, withhold adverse facts or authority from our opponents or the court, and if not, when must we disclose? Members of the NELA Ethics & Sanctions Committee share real-life examples about how to incorporate Rules of Professional Responsibility 4.2 and 3.3 into the litigation of your clients' cases.

This session explores key employment law issues that arise in the era of COVID-19, including: disability and reasonable accommodation issues; pregnancy discrimination and accommodations; new twists on the old FMLA; the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; and stereotyping claims to look out for.

This panel of experienced litigators explores the nuts & bolts of litigating sexual harassment and sexual assault cases in the #MeToo era. The topics include discussion of arbitration as opposed to court; proceeding under a pseudonym; nondisclosure agreements; how to handle sensitive emotional distress issues; how to limit discovery of medical evidence; state laws that provide greater coverage; problems of protecting contractors or undocumented workers; gathering support from victims’ rights and women’s groups; and mediation of sexual harassment cases.

Professor Schnapper and Mr. Seymour review the employment cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court during its 2019–2020 term, significant legislative and state law developments, as well as emerging issues in plaintiffs’ employment law.

This panel brings together NELA’s top experts to give the most important tips for a successful plaintiff employment practice. From voir dire to closing statements, these top trial attorneys discuss what works and what they have learned from their losses.

Seasoned attorneys share their experience of successfully litigating an employment disability discrimination case in front of a jury. This panel includes strategies for trial, including presenting and framing your case, examining witnesses, addressing common biases about individuals with disabilities in the workplace, selecting jurors, jury instructions, maximizing damages, use of supporting witnesses and experts, opening and closing statements, preparing your plaintiff for testimony and other aspects of trial.

Immigrant workers face unique challenges in enforcing their rights in the workplace. This session addresses hurdles that may come up in litigating cases on behalf of immigrant workers, particularly those in low-wage industries. Learn what potential claims are available to these workers, including race and national origin discrimination and retaliation based on immigration enforcement. Also addressed are issues that come up in discovery, such as disclosure of immigration status--and seeking a protective order on behalf of clients--filing under a pseudonym, and handling litigation while a client has a pending immigration application. Immigration enforcement actions which target immigrant workers, like workplace raids and I-9 audits, are also discussed.

We're all familiar with the use of experts in criminal cases...but what about employment cases? Our panel of experts discusses how to determine if an expert is right for your case, how to work with expert witnesses, and even how to use your own client as an expert.

Whistleblower claims are on the rise, and very much in the public eye. This introductory session covers the broad range of complex issues surrounding whistleblower litigation. From issue spotting and protected activity, to the basics of qui tam and bounty statutes, this panel will help guide you through whistleblower claims on both a federal and state level.

A lively discussion about how lawyers can use discovery to their advantage. The discussion tackles such topics as proportionality, how best to propound discovery with specificity, how to use Rule 34 to require parties to state objections with particularity and identify what withheld documents, strategies to get discovery moving expeditiously, & the use of ESI.