The Daily Journal has named Gordon & Rees Los Angeles partner Debra Ellwood Meppen to its 2014 list of California’s Top Labor and Employment Lawyers. The editors reviewed hundreds of nominations, then selected 75 leading attorneys whose work has had a broad impact on the legal community, the nation and society.
Meppen’s profile in the publication’s July 16 Labor & Employment Supplement showcased her recent employment litigation victories, including favorable rulings for a well-known entertainer and for a CEO and his company.
With nearly 20 years of experience, Meppen employs cutting-edge settlement techniques and litigates major, high-profile employment law matters and large-scale class actions in California and nationwide. She chairs Gordon & Rees's national Labor and Employment Practice Group, co-chairs the Los Angeles office's Labor and Employment Practice Group, and chairs the firmwide Women’s Initiative. She represents employers and management in federal and California employment matters and defends private and public entities against claims of discrimination, retaliation, FMLA, wrongful termination, defamation and harassment. She has successfully handled all types of employment cases in state and federal courts, as well as in administrative settings before the DFEH, EEOC, DLSE, and OSHA.
Meppen counsels employers on hiring practices, terminations, workplace investigations, reductions in workforce, and litigation avoidance practices. Her counseling work further includes negotiating separation and executive employment agreements, and drafting industry-specific employment handbooks, policies, and procedures. She routinely speaks on employment law topics and conducts leadership training and sexual harassment prevention training. Her client list encompasses numerous industries including hospitality, retail, pharmaceutical, medical, and entertainment.
Meppen has achieved a Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating of AV-Preeminent and she has been honored in San Diego magazine as one of 2013's top lawyers.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with 31 offices in 20 states. In 2014, The National Law Journal ranked the firm 89th on its list of the largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm at No. 131 on the Am Law 200 and at No. 26 on its Diversity Scorecard. Gordon & Rees has been recognized on the “BTI Client Service A-Team” survey for the past three years and has been honored as a 2014 "Go-To Law Firm" for Fortune 500 companies as well as selected for inclusion on Corporate Counsel magazine’s 2013 “Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies” list.