Dena H. Sokolow has more than 20 years of experience counseling and defending employers and management on a wide range of labor and employment matters. Dena’s litigation experience includes arbitrations, class/collective actions, single and multiple plaintiff lawsuits, administrative proceedings involving employment discrimination and harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, state whistleblower claims and common law claims.
With a practice spanning Florida, Georgia, Alabama and beyond, Dena has handled virtually every type of discrimination case at either the federal, state or agency level, including sexual harassment, race, sex, pregnancy, disability, religion, age, national origin and retaliation. Dena’s clients range from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies.
Dena partners with her clients to best position them to avoid employment law claims or, at a minimum, put the company in the strongest position to defend such claims. She regularly conducts customized audits to ensure compliance with federal and state employment legal requirements such as wage and hour, record retention, hiring and termination practices, FMLA leave practices, job descriptions and personnel policies and procedures. She also conducts management and employee training on a variety of topics that are specifically tailored to each employer’s policies, practices and particular needs.
A unique aspect of Dena’s practice is her work as employment counsel leading up to corporate mergers, acquisitions and sales. In this role, Dena acts as an auditor for the buyer or seller, and conducts due diligence of a company’s HR policies, agreements, staffing issues, and all other employment-related issues. Her advice allows companies to better position themselves throughout the buying or selling process.
Dena has spent her entire career working in, with or for human resources. Before entering law school, Dena was an HR generalist at a staffing company, and during her legal career she owned and ran an HR consulting business.
EDUCATION:
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. (Labor and Employment), with Distinction, 1995
- Florida State University, College of Law, J.D., with Honors, 1994
- Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, B.A., cum laude, 1990
ADMISSIONS:
- Florida, 1994
- Alabama, 2006
- U.S. District Court Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama
- U.S. District Court Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
Representative Matters :
- Granted attorneys’ fees in a Title VII race discrimination case after prevailing on a Motion for Summary Judgment and subsequent appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal.
- Effectively defended a national supplier of soft drinks and chips in a national origin discrimination case where the former employee appealed a “No Cause” determination from the Florida Commission on Human Relations to an administrative hearing and then an appellate court.
- Successfully argued new interpretation of Florida Public Employees’ Relations Act before Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
Professional Honors & Activities:
- Member – State Bar of Georgia
- Member – The Florida Bar
- Member – Alabama State Bar
- Member – American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
Cost
Rate : $$$