Susan is a dynamic and top-performing senior legal executive with demonstrated success in employment law, litigation, dispute resolution, policy development, internal investigations, diversity initiatives, and labor relations. Susan is a trusted advisor to senior leadership teams, builds collaborative partnerships with attorneys and human resources teams, and effectively manages legal teams. She has an extensive background representing a Fortune 100 company in collective bargaining activities for a heavily unionized workforce. She has a proven ability to mitigate risk exposure, control costs, and consistently achieve favorable resolutions to complex legal issues.
Susan provided executive leadership for all labor, employment, and employee benefits legal issues for a Fortune 100 company and its subsidiaries, leading a respected team of 20 in-house labor, employment, and benefits attorneys and legal professionals in five U.S. offices. The team provided all pre-dispute counseling, litigation, and dispute resolution employment-related legal support. Susan and her team of lawyers handled much of the litigation work in-house, including all agency, discovery, and motion practice, to control costs and leverage exceptional business expertise.
Susan has led major initiatives designed to manage legal risk, such as:
- Staffing and selection for corporate restructuring;
- Racial and gender pay equity legal risk analysis and business disclosures;
- Covid response including health and safety, wage and hour, state leave laws, and collective bargaining;
- Internal investigations audit and reorganization; and
- Drug and alcohol testing and accommodations issues with legalization of cannabis.
Susan collaborated with the General Counsel’s office in managing legal department operations initiatives, including:
- Designing, building, and implementing first electronic data retention and electronic discovery programs;
- Designing and implementing legal department professional development job ladders for attorneys and professionals;
- Drafting and implementing legal department business plan document and related policies; and
- Implementing standard narrative status reporting for matters.
Susan partnered with labor relations professionals on collective bargaining strategy and implementation for heavily unionized workforce represented by 34 separate CBAs and trade union contractors, and represented company in all labor arbitrations, board charges, and union avoidance campaigns.