2024 Employment and Labor Law Summit

Event Description

REGISTRATION

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OUR ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILLABLE PDF REGISTRATION FORM

CREDITS:

3.0 SUBSTANTIVE CREDITS

AGENDA:

1:30-2:30 PM

Navigating Employment Law in a Post-Chevron Landscape

David J. Freedman, Esquire, Barley Snyder; Hannah M. Schroer, Esquire, Barley Snyder; and Obinna (Obi) Abara, Esquire, Abara Law Firm, PLLC

Description: The Supreme Court recently overturned Chevron Deference in two companion cases--Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. For the past 40 years, Chevron Deference has played an important role in interpreting the mosaic of federal laws that govern the relationship between employees and employers. Where do courts—and advocates—go from here? This session will focus on the practical effects of the ruling on both plaintiff-side and defense-side practices.

2:30-3:30 PM

Conducting Effective Workplace Investigations

Ursula A. Siverling, Esquire, McNees Wallace & Nurrick LLC

Description: Workplace investigations can be challenging but when conducted properly, an internal investigation can be an employer’s best defense against a potential legal claim.  This presentation will provide practical guidance and best practices for conducting a fair and effective workplace investigation, including how to use the results of the investigation to address employee concerns and avoid future liability.  

3:30-4:00 PM ⭐KEYNOTE PRESENTATION⭐

Tips and Trends in Federal Employment Law Case -- A Perspective from the Bench

Honorable Karoline Mehalchick, District Judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Description: Judge Mehalchick will discuss common issues she sees in employment law cases before her. She will also discuss recent updates to caselaw from the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Topics will include discovery issues, settlement conferences, dispositive motions, and trial tactics.

4:00-4:30 PM 

Q&A with Judge Karoline Mehalchick, moderated by Employment and Labor Law Section Chair, Ben Pratt.

4:30-5:00 PM

Reception to celebrate Judge Mehalchick's appointment to the Middle District of Pennsylvania!

MEET OUR SPEAKERS:

David J. Freedman, Esquire
Partner, Barley Snyder LLP

David Freedman is a partner in Barley Snyder's Employment Practice Group in addition to several other groups. He represents public and private employers of all types and sizes – including employers in the health care, higher education, and hospitality industries – in litigation before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. David has represented employers in claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Combined Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, the Pennsylvania Wage Payment Collection Law, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Law, the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, and the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law, among others.

Hannah M. Schroer, Esquire
Association at Barley Snyder LLP

Hannah Schroer is an attorney in the Barley Snyder’s Employment Practice Group where she represents employers before federal courts and administrative agencies against claims of discrimination. She is a member of the Lancaster and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. She currently serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Legal Academics and Editorial Committees. Prior to working at Barley Snyder, Hannah clerked in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas researching and drafting civil opinions on disputes ranging from commercial contract disputes to restrictive covenants. She still reads Supreme Court opinions for fun.

Obinna (Obi) Abara, Esquire
CEO/Owner of Abara Law Firm PLLC

Obinna Abara (Obi) is an attorney and the CEO/Owner of Abara Law Firm. Obi is the immediate Past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section (hereinafter L&E Section) and currently serves as the L&E Section’s Delegate in the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s House of Delegates. Obi is also a Trustee of the Pennsylvania Bar Trust and Insurance Fund, and otherwise remains very active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association and National Employment Lawyer’s Association.
Obi specializes in employment discrimination litigation. He has also represented corporations and municipalities against numerous charges of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, etc., filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, and federal suits. He has led employee training seminars to assist clients in avoiding/limiting employer liability. Currently, Obi represents plaintiffs and has expanded his civil rights practice to include prosecuting claims of housing as well as employment discrimination. Prior to starting Abara Law Firm, Obinna assisted in the handling of a variety of defense related matters including automobile claims, premises liability, trucking accidents, workers compensation, first party benefits claims and subrogation.

Ursula A. Siverling, Esquire
Of Counsel, McNees Wallace & Nurrick LLC

Ursula practices in the McNees Labor and Employment Practice Group where she provides regular counseling for employers on a variety of employment-related issues, including workplace discrimination and harassment, family and medical leave, workplace accommodations, employee relations issues, employment agreements, wage and hour issues, policy drafting and best practices for litigation avoidance. Ursula also conducts training for clients and workplace investigations. She has significant knowledge of a wide range of employment laws and routinely works with employers to find solutions to workplace issues.

Immediately before joining McNees, Ursula spent over twelve years working in-house for an international corporation in both the Legal and Human Resources Departments. Ursula graduated from Widener University Commonwealth Law School in 2001.

Ursula also has served on the board of directors and committees for various non-profit organizations and provides legal services to local non-profit and community organizations through McNees’ pro bono program.

⭐KEYNOTE SPEAKER⭐

Honorable Karoline Mehalchick
District Judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

On July 11, 2023, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. nominated Judge Karoline Mehalchick to be a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 31, 2024. President Biden signed her commission on February 5, 2024, and she was sworn in as a District Judge on February 6, 2024. Prior to her confirmation as a District Judge, Judge Mehalchick served the Court as a United States Magistrate Judge for over a decade, having been appointed by the judges of the United States District Court to that position in July 2013. With that appointment, she became the first woman judge to sit in the Scranton vicinage of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She was reappointed to the position for a second term in 2021 and appointed Chief Magistrate Judge in January 2021. In her decade as a magistrate judge, Judge Mehalchick presided over, served as a referral judge, or acted as a settlement officer in thousands of civil, criminal, and petty offense matters.

Judge Mehalchick is a graduate of the Schreyer Honors College of the Pennsylvania State University, and the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she was a Tulane Law Scholarship recipient and student attorney in the Environmental Law Clinic. Upon graduating from law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Trish Corbett, the first woman judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County. After completing her clerkship with Judge Corbett, Judge Mehalchick joined the law firm of Oliver, Price & Rhodes in Clarks Summit, where she became a partner in 2008. Judge Mehalchick will serve as the Jurist in Residence at Widener Commonwealth Law School for the 2025-2027 term.

In addition to her regular judicial duties, Judge Mehalchick has served on the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, as a member of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts Magistrate Judges Advisory Group and is a member of the Third Circuit Judicial Council’s Reentry Courts and Workplace Conduct committees. Within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge Mehalchick helped create the Prisoner Litigation Settlement Program and presides over the Scranton vicinage’s CARE court, the district’s reentry program.

Judge Mehalchick is an active member of the Federal, Pennsylvania, and Lackawanna Bar Associations. Judge Mehalchick currently serves as President-Elect of the Federal Bar Association and will become President of the national organization in October 2025. Judge Mehalchick is also a Past President of the Middle District of Pennsylvania Chapter of the FBA. Since September 2018, Judge Mehalchick has served as Vice President of Production for the Ballet Theatre of Scranton. She also participates in weekly Scholar Exchanges through the National Constitution Center, leading middle and high school students in discussions about constitutional issues and civil discourse.

Throughout her legal career, Judge Mehalchick has been recognized for her contributions to the bar and community and is a recipient of the PBA’s Michael K. Smith Excellence in Service Award, the LBA’s Margaret P. Gavin Award, which is presented to an outstanding young lawyer member of the Lackawanna Bar Association who is dedicated to service to the bar and community. Judge Mehalchick was recognized in 2012 as one of thirty-five Pennsylvania “Lawyers on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer, and in May 2020, the PBA’s Commission on Women in the Profession as a “Woman Trailblazer.”

PRICING:

LBA Attorney (with credit) - $140.00

LBA Attorney + Paralegal - $180.00

LBA Member Paralegal/Legal Assistant - $90.00

Non-Member (with credit) - $225.00

Non-Member (without credit) - $100.00

QUESTIONS?

Email Lexi Driendl (cle@lancasterbar.org), Continuing Legal Education & Marketing Coordinator