OverviewGwendolyn assists businesses, churches, healthcare professionals, educational institutions, and a wide range of companies with advice and counsel, as well as civil litigation, complex labor and employment litigation and professional liability litigation. She provides strategic counsel to individual and corporate clients in civil litigation matters at the trial level, represents clients in cases involving Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issues such as investigating, defending citations and assisting in abatement, and she advises clients on a broad range of issues before the United States Department of Labor and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, including issues arising under Title VII and Title IX.
Gwendolyn has extensive experience with representation and defense of medical providers and hospitals before state courts and administrative agencies, including multi-million-dollar medical malpractice litigation. She also has experience in litigation and day-to-day issues including restructuring, termination, demotions, workplace accommodations, and liability risk management. She has drafted and negotiated settlement documents, discovery, briefs, and other motions to defend employment, professional liability, and business claims, and is experienced in trial and witness preparation through all phases of litigation in state and federal courts.
Before joining Michael Best, Gwendolyn spent five years as an employment litigator with a North Carolina law firm. She previously served as Alumni Director at Elon University School of Law where she facilitated the growth and development of the alumni association by engaging with partners, advocates, and investors. In this role, she also served on the institutional committee and managed policies related to Title IX, community responsibility and standards for reporting, preventing, and responding to Title IX accusations, and other university policies against federal legislation, and much more.
Earlier, Gwendolyn was an adjunct professor at the Elon University School of Law and instructed students on courtroom procedures, federal rules of evidence, and the American judicial system. After receiving her J.D., Gwendolyn was an associate for a boutique law firm where she gained valuable experience in all aspects of employment litigation, including employee manuals, non-compete, severance, and confidentiality agreements. Gwendolyn was also a judicial extern for the North Carolina Supreme Court for Justice Paul M. Newby. Honors & Recognitions
- Legal Elite, Employment Law, Business North Carolina Magazine, 2023
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Employment Litigation, 2018–Present
- Best Lawyers in America©
- Healthcare Litigation, 2020-present
- Labor and Employment Litigation, 2021-present
- Employment Law – Management, 2023
- Legal Elite
- Employment Law, 2015, 2019, and 2021
- Litigation, 2021
- Young Guns, 2015
- Leaders in the Law, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, 2019
Professional Activities
- Board Member, Lifespan Services
- Barrister, Justice William Bobbitt Inn of Court
- Member, North Carolina Bar Association
- Co-Chair, Legal Legends of Color Subcommittee
- Member, Nominations Committee
- Member, Minorities in the Profession Committee
- Member, Annual Planning Committee
- Former member, Board of Governors, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee
- Former Co-chair, Labor and Employment Pro Bono Committee
- Member, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
- Vice Chair, Employment Law Practice Group, 2023-2024
- Member, Michael Best Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee
- Member, John S. Leary Bar Association of Black Attorneys
- Executive Committee Member, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
- Member, National Order of Barristers
- Former Executive Board Member, Greensboro Bar Association, Young Lawyer Section
- Former Vice President, Guilford County Association of Black Lawyers,
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