Debra Weiss Ford, Jackson Lewis

Specializing in Labor Law — Management

We’ve selected six Lawyers of the Year for portraits and to share trends in their legal specialties and a quotation that has inspired them in their work.

Notable trend: As we look toward 2017, employers should begin to plan for likely increased scrutiny in numerous areas including state and federal efforts to increase family and caregiving responsibilities, medical marijuana legislation and the impact on ADA issues, enforceability of class action waivers, increased spotlight on non-compete enforceability, expansion of LGBTQ rights in the workplace, limitations on background checks in the hiring process, equal pay issues and workplace privacy concerns. All eyes are on the 2016 election, both on the national and state level, as new administrations, whether Democrat or Republican, will bring new initiatives and legislation that likely will further create a complicated and fluctuating time in the workplace.