Labor Law

Jamie L. Cox is a partner at Willson & Pechacek, PLC, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Cox’s general litigation practice focuses on personal injury law, employment law, estate and trust litigation, business law, and civil rights law. He represents clients in Iowa and Nebraska. A native of Wapello, Iowa, Mr. Cox graduated with honors and distinction from the University of Iowa, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in history and sociology in 1998. He later obtained his law degree from The University of Iowa College of Law in 2001. Licensed to practice in the state courts of Iowa and Nebraska, Mr. Cox is also admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, the U.S. Tax Court, the Iowa Supreme Court, the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. He joined Willson & Pechacek, PLC, in 2001 and became a partner in 2006. Mr. Cox belongs to a number of professional organizations, including the he American Bar Association, the Iowa State Bar Association, the Nebraska State Bar Association, the Pottawattamie County Bar Association, and the Iowa Defense Counsel Association. He is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association section councils for Litigation and Employment Law, and also belongs to the dispute resolution, labor and employment law and state and local governing sections of the American Bar Association. In addition to his professional commitments, Mr. Cox enjoys participating in his local community. He serves as member of the Board of Directors of the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce, as a soccer coach for the Council Bluffs Soccer Club, and a Boy Scouts adult leader.

Richard Neuworth has been handling personal injury and employment and employee benefit litigation for 35 years. He has extensive experience in employee benefit, discrimination, harassment, personal injury, workers compensation and Social Security disability cases, successfully representing individuals and groups of employees in significant employment disputes. An “AV Preeminent-Rated” attorney, he is listed in “Best Lawyers in America” in Labor and Employment Law in 2010. He is listed in “Super Lawyers,” as well, in Employee Benefits. A graduate of the George Washington University and the University of Baltimore Law School, Richard is general counsel to employee organizations and associations. He is a member of the American Bar Association – Labor and Employment Section, Maryland State Bar Association Labor and Employment Section – Section Council since 2006, Maryland State Bar Association – Elder Law Council in 2010, Maryland Association of Justice, Baltimore City Bar Association and National Employment Lawyers Association. He has been the editor in chief of the “Trial Reporter” of the Maryland Association for Justice since 2006. Richard has presented on the subject of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and Americans for Disabilities Act of 1990 to the Maryland State Bar Association Convention in June 2006 and June 2010. He moderated a program on the new Maryland False Claims Act and federal False Claims Act in June 2015. He presented on both the Maryland False Claims Act and federal False Claims Act in April 2015 for Employment Law Institute. Richard has lectured on disability benefits and employment issues to diverse groups such as the National MS Society, Alzheimer’s Association, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Lupus Foundation. He has also lectured on the subject of Social Security disability and Maryland Workers Compensation law to those groups, the National Business Institute and the Maryland State Bar Association in September 2010. He has been an adjunct lecturer on both employment law and Social Security disability as part of the Elder Law course at the University of Maryland Law School from 2005 to the present. Richard’s publications include course materials sponsored by the Maryland Institute of Continuing Professional Legal Education for Lawyers (MICPEL) on the subjects of Employment Law and Social Security Disability. His materials on ERISA and Medicare liens were also part of programs sponsored by the Maryland Association of Justice. He has published articles in the Maryland State Bar Association, “Trial Magazine” and the “Trial Reporter’ of the Maryland Association of Justice on topics that include the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and the Private Cause of Action, Employee Termination under the False Claims Act, ERISA Liens and Personal Injury Actions, Medicare, Medicare Secondary Payer Act and Private Cause of Actions, Sexual Harassment, ERISA and Personal Injury Actions.

EXPERIENCE: ScaleUp Legal – Managing Partner Miami, FL • Manage formation and development of ScaleUp program for startups seeking representation and counsel to raise capital, overcoming due diligence difficulties, and structuring deals. • Qualify, evaluate, and manage affiliated PE investments and portfolio of startups. • Counsel US and global clients (businesses and executives), on corporate structure, immigration, PE/VC, international tax, compliance, and complex international transactions. • Review, negotiate, and supervise hundreds of commercial, procurement, and licensing contracts, DPAs, and more with clients, vendors, and partners . • Counsel clients on the legal aspects of investing in blockchain technology and making other cryptocurrency investments. • Counsel domestic and international (including Egypt, Philippines, Spain, and Argentina) clients on entity formation in Delaware, Florida, and Nevada, tax implications, registered agents, power of attorney, and tax IDs for corporate and individual clients. • Search, and file for, new trademarks, respond to office actions, and manage trademarks. CoachHub – Sr. Legal Counsel Miami, FL and Berlin, Germany • As VP and officer of the US subsidiary, negotiate and manage hundreds of deals in the US, Latin America (including Brazil), and Spain. Counsel and negotiate with C-level executives, on corporate structure, immigration, PE/VC (more than $300M raised in VC), international tax, compliance, and complex international transactions. • Review and determine adequacy of software as service platforms, and their compliance with our internal requirements as well as FedRAMP, GovCloud, GDPR, CCPA, SOC II, and ISO. • Hire, lead, and mentor team members in the UK, Germany, and the US by examining their work, setting priorities, providing feedback, and facilitating improvements and growth. • Work with Human Resources to establish a nationwide employment strategy minimizing labor costs and risks for a workforce of around 150 employees across 27 states and several countries. • Clients and partners included Silicon Valley Bank, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, T. Rowe Price, Capital One, Kellogg's, Thomson Reuters, Repsol, Banco Santander, and more. Indiana Department of Workforce Development – Investigator Miami, FL and Indianapolis, IN • Determined the facts and created a record relevant to the claimants’ claims by using questioning techniques similar to the ones used for deposition, direct, and cross examination. • Applied relevant Indiana labor law and jurisprudence to assist in adjudicating unemployment and COVID-19 pandemic benefits claims. Maine Department of Labor – Appeals Hearing Officer Miami, FL and Augusta, ME • Heard appeals from unemployment claimants in the state of Maine and applied relevant law concerning unemployment benefits and emergency assistance related to COVID-19. • Conducted hearings with claimants over the phone, created a record, and made decisions over the qualifications of claimants to receive unemployment benefits. • Affirmed or reversed decisions by unemployment benefit deputies based on the record created during the hearings and the applicable law. M3N – Founder Miami, FL and Barcelona, Spain • Founded M3N, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and established the corporate documents necessary for corporate governance and operations in Florida. • Developed the business and technology to invest in triple net CRE using data science. • Through the COVID-19 pandemic, developed and leveraged the network of contacts necessary to raise the funds necessary to begin operations and deploy capital. Trueba & Suarez – IP Law Miami, FL • Drafted motions for Federal court, State court, and TTAB proceedings. Drafted responses to USPTO office actions. Provided litigation support including document management, document review, eDiscovery, and client coordination. • Researched and summarized TMEP, the Hague convention (for service on international defendants), Federal (Lanham Act, DMCA, and the Copyright Act), and Florida statutes related to trade secrets, international copyrights, trademarks, and franchises. • Initiated, followed up with, negotiated, and delivered take down notices, demand letters, and cease and desist letters to content and service providers (like YouTube, GoDaddy, and others) and opposing parties as necessary to protect the intellectual property rights of our clients. • Evaluated searches performed by outside vendors on trademarks and patents. Evaluated potential pre, and post, AIA patent cases, patent office actions, and patents used by examiner to deny patents. InternetDynamo – Founder Miami, FL • Acquired clients generating more than $800,000 in revenue per year. • Led the team responsible for the design, deployment, growth, and maintenance of the hosting infrastructure necessary to sustain the website ranked number 20 in traffic in the world. • Led the design and development, with a team of DBAs, the cluster database infrastructure responsible for hundreds of millions of transactions per day spanning several databases, servers, networks, and geographic locations. EDUCATION: Universidad de Barcelona, Facultad de Derecho Barcelona, Spain Grado en Derecho (Legum Baccalaureus (LL.B.)/Bachelor of Law) – EU Law and Data Privacy University of California - Berkeley, School of Law Berkeley, CA Legum Magister (LL.M.)/Master of Law – Intellectual Property (IP) Nova Southeastern University, College of Engineering and Computing Miami, FL Master of Science in Management Information Systems (M.MIS) – Data Science Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law Ft. Lauderdale, FL Juris Doctor (J.D.) – International Law & Civil Law Stetson University College of Law: Tampa, FL International Institute of Social Studies The Hague, Netherlands Truman Bodden Law School Georgetown, Grand Cayman Florida Institute of Technology, Nathan M. Bisk College of Business Melbourne, FL Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), cum laude – Business Administration & Computer Information Systems OTHERS: Native Reader, Writer, and Speaker of Legal and Business English and Spanish Member of the Florida Bar – Bar No. 1027712 Miami, FL CIPP/US Miami, FL Startup @ Berkeley Law/VC University – Certificate in VC Berkeley, CA Chairman of Board of Our Children, Our Future (non-profit) Hollywood, FL Nova Southeastern University – Certificate in Civil Law Ft. Lauderdale, FL University of California, Berkeley – Certificate in Law and Technology (IP) Berkeley, CA InfraGard, South Florida Members Alliance Miami, FL Nova Southeastern University – Certificate in International Law Ft. Lauderdale, FL HNBA/Microsoft, Intellectual Property Law Institute (IPLI) Scholar Washington, DC Master Swimmer Miami, FL

John B. Flood represents clients in trials and adversarial proceedings, in matters involving non-competition and other restrictive covenants, and in all aspects of labor and employment law. Prior to starting Flood Law, John served as an active duty Air Force Judge Advocate (JAG) officer, attaining the rank of Major. John then joined a national labor and employment firm, becoming a Shareholder. John’s approach to the practice of law reflects the values of excellence, teamwork, and service to others that he fostered in the Air Force and now applies to each client in every case.

Adair Buckner was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. She attended both undergraduate and law school at Texas Tech, and her blood runs red and black. Her husband’s grandmother was the very first graduate of Texas Tech. Her children were the 56th & 57th members of her husband’s family to attend Tech. Adair majored in business management as an undergraduate, finishing with honors. She immediately began law school and graduated with highest honors. While in law school, Adair was the Comments Editor of the Texas Tech Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif (the top 10% of the class). When she finished law school in 1976, Adair moved back to Amarillo to begin her law practice. She has been in law firms, large and small, during her practice and is now a sole practitioner. Adair has been actively involved in the Amarillo Area Bar Association and Amarillo Area Bar Foundation, having served on the boards and as president of both groups. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, and Estate Planning, and Probate, and the Labor and Employment Law sections. She has been board certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1996. She practices management-side only in employment law.

Nicole Brenecki is a native-born New Yorker who, following an extensive overseas education, returned to practice law in her place of birth. Fluent in English, German, and Polish, Ms. Brenecki’s distinctive global experiences allow her to fully understand and appreciate the unique needs of her clients with the ability to explain the intricacies of New York law in multiple languages. Ms. Brenecki obtained her Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School in 2017. At Brooklyn Law, Ms. Brenecki was awarded the prestigious Brooklyn Law Students for the Public Interest Fellowship and in 2018, she co-founded an organization that was instrumental in the repeal of the New York City Cabaret Law by Mayor Bill DeBlasio. Prior to obtaining her Juris Doctorate, Ms. Brenecki received a Master’s Degree in Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw and a Diploma in American Law at Center for American Law Studies at the University of Warsaw in 2013. Nicole has extensive experience working for both Plaintiffs and Defendants and specializes in Personal Injury and Labor Law, as well as Employment and Wage Law, in which she heads the firm’s practice. In only her second year of full-time practice, Nicole was named a “Super Lawyer – Rising Star,” a distinction awarded to no more than 2.5% of attorneys in each state for her excellence as a litigator, in 2021. In 2022, she was honored with the “Super Lawyer – Rising Star” award again, followed by the “Top 10 under 40” Award for New York Personal Injury Attorneys, as well as the Lawyers of Distinction Award. Ms. Brenecki is admitted to practice law in the state of New York, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.

Frank concentrates his practice on civil litigation, with an emphasis on medical malpractice injury, general injury cases, civil rights and class actions. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1992 from the State University of New York at Albany where he also played rugby. Frank then attended St. John’s University School of Law in Queens, New York, during the evening while working as an investigator for the State of New York, followed by the New York City Corporation Counsel, and then AIG Insurance Company as a litigation claims adjuster. Frank obtained his law degree in 1998, was admitted to the New York State bar in 1999, and eventually all four federal district court bars for New York, as well as the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He began his legal career in the New York City office of one of his law school professors representing injury victims and then moved on to a large firm representing corporations in product liability litigation. Frank then relocated to Massachusetts where he had to take two additional bar exams to be admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 2002 and the Rhode Island bar in 2003. Frank continued with injury law there, particularly construction and maritime cases under the Jones Act involving accidents at sea, including several death cases. Frank relocated to Central New York in 2006 and worked for the litigation firm of O’Hara, O’Connell & Ciotoli representing victims of medical malpractice, workplace injuries, general injuries and wrongful labor and employment practices. Frank has been appointed class counsel in several class action cases and achieved over $17,000,000 in class action settlements since 2015 for FLSA and New York Labor Law violations. In all, since 2008 Frank has recovered over $27,000,000 in damages for his injury and employment clients. Frank lives in Fayetteville, N.Y. with his wife and children. He is active in the Fayetteville-Manlius community with coaching soccer and basketball. He has served on the boards of FEAT of Central New York and Enable, Inc., now known as Access CNY. He also remains active with the University at Albany rugby alumni. Learn more about Frank Gattuso. He has more than 20 years of experience in the legal industry. The cases he takes on include, but are not limited to: -Injury Cases -Medical Malpractice Injuries -Wage & Hour Violations -Defective Product Injuries -Slip & Fall Injuries -FLSA & New York Labor Violations -Car Accident Injuries -Workplace Injuries -Unpaid Wages

Partner, Nicholas J. Repici, is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Law; Public Entity Defense; Education Law; and Land Use, Planning and Zoning Law Practice Groups. Mr. Repici has served as Labor Counsel, General Counsel and Special Litigation Counsel for numerous municipalities, counties, authorities, school boards and other public entities throughout New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Repici has extensive experience handling public and private sector collective bargaining negotiations, grievance arbitrations, unfair labor practice proceedings and employee disciplinary matters. He also regularly represents management in all types of employment litigation matters including claims involving discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, wage and hour laws, whistle-blower activity, restrictive covenants and trade secrets. In addition, Mr. Repici counsels employers regarding workplace policies and procedures, employee leave issues and wage and hour compliance. He handles complex commercial litigation involving: commercial real estate and land use matters, construction matters, contract and business disputes, fraud and misrepresentation and public contract and bid protests. Mr. Repici's education law practice includes representing universities, public school districts and charter schools in matters involving tenure dismissal, non-renewal, employee disciplinary actions, employment litigation, public records disclosure, public meeting compliance, public bidding, board governance and ethical issues. Mr. Repici is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Durand Foundation and serves as an Executive Board Member for the Moorestown Youth Baseball Association.

Robert S. Bauders specializes in all areas of employment law except workers compensation primarily on behalf of individuals from his office in Cleveland, Ohio. He previously was a Field Attorney in the Cleveland Regional Office of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board for 8 years followed by 4 years as a Supervisory Trial Attorney and 7 years as Regional Attorney of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Cleveland District Office responsible for all Agency litigation in the State of Ohio.

Erin Elliott is the managing attorney of Elliott Immigration Law LLC. She focuses her practice 100% on immigration law. She represents individuals, families and companies in obtaining various temporary visas such as fiancé, student, trainee, entrepreneur and employment as well as permanent immigration through family and employers. After attending Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, Erin continued her education at Loyola Law School in New Orleans. Upon her graduation from law school, Erin returned to Atlanta and began her career at a national law firm where she specialized in business and corporate law for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small start-ups. While assisting such clients, she became aware of the difficulties in obtaining and keeping foreign worker employees. Also during this time, Erin met her Turkish husband and was personally exposed to the green card and naturalization process. Based on her experiences, Erin opened her own law practice in 2011 to assist businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals in navigating the, often intimidating, U.S. immigration legal system. Erin is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and volunteers for Catholic Charities of Atlanta- Immigration Legal Services, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and as a Guardian Ad Litem in Fulton County, Georgia.