About Lydia
Lydia represents parties in all types of employment disputes, including wage disputes, whistleblower protection matters, and discrimination and retaliation matters. Prior to joining the firm, Lydia spent more than 15 years as a trial attorney with the Solicitor’s Office of the United States Department of Labor (DOL). During her time at DOL, Lydia brought hundreds of actions on behalf the Secretary of Labor to enforce federal employment laws in various federal district courts and before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Office of Administrative Law Judges, Mine Safety and Health Commission, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has extensive counseling and trial experience in cases ranging from complex Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters, to cases involving minimum wage and overtime violations, and to safety and health matters involving fatalities and grievous injuries at worksites across the Southeast. In addition to her busy litigation practice, Lydia also served for two years as acting counsel for the Employee Benefits Security Administration in the Southeast Region. In the counsel role, she was responsible for supervising and coordinating all governmental litigation under ERISA in six states and multiple district courts. Lydia is passionate about protecting the rights of workers and helping employers comply with federal and state employment laws.
Education
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J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, with high honors
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B.A., English Literature, Columbia University in the City of New York, magna cum laude
Clerkships
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Honorable P. Michael Duffy of the U.S. District Court in South Carolina
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Honorable Phyllis A. Kravitch of the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals
Bar Admission
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Georgia
Awards and Recognition
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Secretary’s Exceptional Service Impact Award, 2023; given annually to no more than one employee of the Solicitor’s Office in recognition of “exceptional performance and accomplishments which have had a marked impact on DOL program operations and the delivery of DOL programs and services to the American people.”
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Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Awards, 2011 - 2023
Speaking Engagements
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Speaker, Atlanta Bar Association, YLD Labor & Employment Committee, Wage and Hour Regulation Update, December 10, 2024.
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Speaker, Atlanta Bar Association, Advanced Employment Law, Trials After the Pandemic, March 23, 2023.
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Speaker, Mt. Sinai Morningside/West Dept. of Psychiatry, Grand Rounds, Workplace Violence in Behavioral Health: The Medicine and the Law, September 28, 2022.
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Speaker, ABA 16th Annual Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference, Washington, DC, Incivility and Workplace Safety: The Rise of Unruly Behavior, November 10, 2022.
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Speaker, State Bar of Georgia, Labor & Employment Institute, Violence in the Workplace? Better Call OSHA!, December 6, 2019.