Anna Lazarus successfully defends employers in a wide range of employment disputes, from single-plaintiff discrimination cases to wage and hour collective actions. She represents employers in a variety of industries, with special focus on retail. Anna has appeared in federal and state court, and also advocates for clients in front of the EEOC and other state and local agencies.

Anna has extensive experience in employment law matters, as well as commercial and insurance disputes, with an emphasis on the defense of employers against allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Family and Medical Leave Act; and the enforcement of non-competition agreements and other restrictive covenants. She also defends business in public accommodations litigation.

Anna works with clients to balance legal risk with their business objectives. Her counseling work includes guiding clients through issues relating to minimum wage and overtime rules, employee classification issues, and employee harassment complaints. She prepares employee handbooks and personnel policies.

Anna has twice been recognized as an Associate to Watch by Chambers USA. Clients quoted in Chambers described Anna as “excellent,” “very diligent,” and having the “experience and capability to handle litigation,” highlighting her “professionalism and knowledge.”Anna contributes regularly to the firm’s Employment & Labor Perspectives blog, the firm’s Retail Law Resource blog and the firm’s Insurance Recovery blog. She was a summer associate with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and prior to that served as an intern to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Tennessee. She is admitted to practice in Florida, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Relevant Experience

• Successfully defended employers in federal courts, including: a defense verdict in a federal jury trial on FLSA overtime claims brought against two international restaurant corporations (second chair; argued key pre-trial motions) and a defense summary judgment dismissing minimum wage and § 203(m) tip credit claims.
• Represented large employers in in nationwide FLSA collective actions.
• Defended numerous charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and comparable state agencies.
• Defended large corporations in various race, gender, and retaliation lawsuits brought by individual or joint plaintiffs
• Authored successful appellate briefs, in state and federal courts, including defending defense verdict in ERISA denial of benefits case, defending defense verdict in retaliation claim against air carrier, and defending order staying action in favor of arbitration under Federal Arbitration Act.
• Successfully represented insurance clients in trial court and appellate court proceedings concerning coverage disputes, including the number of occurrences at issue and the interplay of state sovereign immunity statute and self-insured retention.

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, Vanderbilt Law School, Chancellor’s Law Scholar, Executive Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 2007BA, Amherst College, magna cum laude, 2003