is the founder of Cohen Employment Law, an employment law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Cohen focuses his practice on representing his clients in wage and hour class and collective actions, restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, and leave and accommodation actions. Mr. Cohen has extensive experience representing his clients before federal and state courts across the U.S., as well as federal, state, and local administrative agencies. In addition to his litigation practice, he routinely counsels his clients through a number of complex issues, including independent contractor misclassification, exempt employee misclassification, restrictive covenant violations, trade secret misappropriation, and managing leave and accommodation requests. Prior to launching Cohen Employment Law, Mr. Cohen practiced with Troutman Pepper Locke and Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart. He earned his B.A. degree from The George Washington University and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Mr. Cohen is admitted to practice in North Carolina and Virginia.

is a member of the firm's Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Group. She dedicates her practice to assisting clients with some of their most challenging compliance issues, including questions relating to electronic employee monitoring and biometric privacy laws, the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies in the workplace, and the development and implementation of global information security and data privacy programs. Ms. Watson helps clients with both internal and external privacy compliance tasks, including the preparation of privacy policies and notices, operationalization of data subject rights, and negotiation of data protection agreements. In the incident response space, she acts as a trusted advisor to companies experiencing data security incidents, assisting them with immediate data breach response activities as well as longer-term breach notification and regulatory investigation tasks. Ms. Watson has been designated a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She regularly speaks at conferences and to industry groups about the ever-changing cybersecurity and data privacy landscape. In her spare time, Ms. Watson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Me Fine Foundation, a local non-profit organization that aims to provide hope through emotional support and financial assistance to families whose children are receiving care at North Carolina partner hospitals. She is also a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Raleigh/Durham KnowledgeNet Chapter and was selected to serve as chapter chair for the 2025-2027 term. Ms. Watson earned her J.D. degree and her B.A. degree in political science and history, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

is a partner with the law firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he provides counseling and litigation services to management clients in employment and related corporate matters. He has successfully defended employers before administrative agencies around the country, and the state and federal courts in North Carolina, against claims of employment discrimination, wrongful termination, breach of contract, wage and hour violations, non-compete agreements, trade secrets, and related business litigation. Mr. Stephenson regularly publishes articles and is invited to speak on topics of employment law, litigation and trial tactics, insurance law, and corporate risk management topics. He is a recent past president of the Charlotte Area Society of Human Resource Managers and is currently the Government Affairs director for NCSHRM. Mr. Stephenson has extensive experience providing insurance coverage counseling and litigation services on employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), directors and officers (D&O), general liability (GL), errors and omissions (E&O), and other lines of coverage. He litigates in the state and federal courts of North Carolina in cases pertaining to professional liability, products liability, and other areas of civil and corporate liability. Mr. Stephenson earned his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia and his J.D. degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

is of counsel in the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She approaches her work with clients as a true partnership and appreciates their individual knowledge and insights, understanding that a positive legal outcome is most likely if everyone is capitalizing on each other's strengths. Ms. Woods values the relationships she builds with her clients, and they turn to her for her pragmatic way of explaining complicated legal issues. She focuses her practice on assisting employers with their day-to-day employment law matters, including preventive advice and counseling. Ms. Woods provides comprehensive and strategic legal counsel on compliance issues and regulatory requirements, and regularly drafts, reviews and advises with respect to developing policies, procedures and handbooks. She also represents clients in all stages of litigation including initial evaluation, research, discovery, depositions, motions practices, negotiations, and trial, with first-chair experience. Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Ms. Woods served as a senior associate general counsel for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

is an associate in the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. His practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling. Mr. Littlejohn is a member of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. He earned his B.S. degree, with honors, from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and his J.D. degree from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.

is a partner with the Wilmington law firm of Crossley McIntosh Collier Hanley & Edes, PLLC. Since 1991, he has practiced in the areas of civil litigation, insurance defense, employment law, maritime law, federal workers' compensation, and Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act. Mr. Hanley is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, Maritime Law Association and the Defense Research Institute. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina, Texas, U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western districts of North Carolina, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Fifth circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Hanley earned his B.A. degree from Cornell University and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Tulane University.

is partner with Laner Muchin, Ltd. He represents and counsels management on a wide array of employment law-related issues, including workplace safety and health, wage and hour laws, prevailing wage issues, covenants not to compete, discrimination and harassment, wrongful discharge, whistleblower claims, class actions, hiring, discipline, promotion and dismissal decision-making, workplace privacy, and statutory compliance. Mr. Gillespie provides employers with strategic advice to help meet their objectives while reducing potential litigation risks. He handles litigation in both federal and state courts as well as claims pending with state and federal administrative agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, Illinois Department of Human Rights and Illinois Department of Labor. He earned his B.A. degree from Northwestern University and his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center.