Vanessa is a trusted advisor to management on the full spectrum of employment matters, including executive employment and separation, workforce restructuring, employee relations, disability accommodations, workplace misconduct, reductions in force, and protection of proprietary information. She drafts and negotiates employment and transactional agreements aligned with business objectives, including executive contracts, retention and restructuring agreements, separation agreements, and restrictive covenants. She provides employment risk analysis during corporate due diligence processes and board training on fiduciary duties for employee relations compliance.
A significant component of Vanessa’s practice is her work in higher education and Title IX compliance. As a certified Title IX investigator with training in trauma-informed investigative techniques, she conducts neutral investigations and provides compliance counseling for colleges, universities, and K-12 institutions. She has completed coursework qualifying her to serve as a Title IX hearing and appeals officer and regularly advises educational institutions on navigating sensitive, high stakes matters involving students, faculty, and staff with fairness, integrity, and procedural rigor.
When disputes do arise, Vanessa draws on her substantial litigation experience to guide clients through investigations, administrative proceedings, and employment-related litigation. She also supports clients through audits and agency inquiries and delivers customized training for boards, executives, HR teams, managers, and employees on employment law, workplace conduct, and compliance topics.
Vanessa is frequently called upon to serve as a neutral investigator and advisor in matters requiring independence, credibility, and sound judgment. Her investigative work plays a critical preventative role—often resolving issues before they escalate into litigation—while reinforcing institutional accountability and confidence in internal processes. Vanessa is often retained by other employment attorneys outside of the firm to conduct investigations for their clients.
Vanessa is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and approved on its national panel of employment arbitrators. Her experience counseling clients and litigating before federal and state courts, federal and state agencies, and before arbitration tribunals informs her practice.
Vanessa’s industry experience spans retail, hospitality and food and beverage, healthcare, insurance, professional services, manufacturing, aviation, automotive, religious organizations, higher education, banking, and executive leadership. Across all sectors, she is known for her pragmatic, people-centered approach, recognizing that strong leadership and inclusive workplaces are essential to long-term organizational success.
Within the firm, Vanessa serves as Co-Chair of the BOLD initiative, advancing the leadership and professional development of women across the firm, the legal profession, and the broader business community, and has served as an instructor of RISE, the firm’s bespoke leadership development program for the firm’s next generation of leaders. She also serves as core leader for her labor and employment business unit’s strategic development plan and has served as an allyship training for the firm’s culture programming. She also hosts a podcast, Leadership, Simply Smarter: Real Conversations on Risk, People, and Judgment, where she engages with leaders on the realities of decision-making, responsibility, and managing risk
