Overview
With a background spanning nearly a decade in human resources and labor relations and an externship with the EEOC, Deedra focuses her practice on labor and employment matters, helping employers navigate complex workplace challenges with both legal acumen and practical insight. Drawing on hands-on experience in employee relations, compliance and collective bargaining, Deedra is committed to delivering solutions that are not only legally sound but also tailored to the realities of today’s workplaces.
Deedra counsels clients on everyday employment issues, helping them take proactive steps to reduce risk and strengthen workplace policies. She drafts employment, separation and restrictive covenant agreements, as well as complex multi-state employee handbooks and policies. Deedra also regularly supports mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions by identifying employment-related risks during due diligence and helping clients assess how those risks may affect deal value, structure and post-close integration, including post-closing remediation in both equity and asset transactions. In her litigation practice, Deedra supports the defense of employers against discrimination, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, retaliation and wage-and-hour claims, from drafting pleadings, discovery requests, dispositive motions and mediation statements to organizing evidence and summarizing deposition transcripts. She also assists management clients in the union representation process, helping employers navigate the campaign landscape.
Deedra is deeply committed to community service and engagement. She dedicates her time to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, where she serves on the Emerging Professionals Committee (EPC) and works alongside a team to pack and distribute essential food and household items to underserved members of the community. In addition, through her involvement with Towards Employment Inc., Deedra conducts mock interviews for recently incarcerated individuals, supporting their successful reentry into the workforce and helping to reduce recidivism.
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