Mercedes Colwin, founding partner of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani’s New York City office, will serve as moderator at the PLUS Employment Practices Symposium, a national conference examining critical developments in employment practices liability and workplace risk. Colwin will moderate “Federal Agency Perspectives: Emerging Priorities in Workplace Enforcement,” a high-profile discussion focused on enforcement priorities, regulatory developments, and litigation trends shaping employment and civil rights law. The session is notable for bringing together senior government leadership and seasoned private-practice voices to address the real-world impact of agency initiatives and evolving compliance expectations for employers.
Joining Colwin on the panel are Andrea Lucas, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Honorable Courtney Walter, Senior Counselor in the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor. Chair Lucas has played a central role in shaping the EEOC’s current enforcement agenda and regularly addresses issues including DEI, sex-based rights, religious liberty, and pregnancy discrimination. Walter brings significant government and private-sector experience, including prior service at the U.S. Department of Labor and a background in labor and employment litigation. The panel also includes Marvin Kaplan and Wendy J. Mellk of Jackson Lewis, adding further perspective from a national management-side employment practice.
Colwin contributes a trial-focused viewpoint informed by decades of litigation experience across employment law, commercial disputes, class actions, and civil rights matters. Before entering private practice, she served for nine years as an Administrative Law Judge with the New York State Division of Human Rights, presiding over thousands of cases brought under federal and state discrimination laws. Her career spans courtroom advocacy, regulatory adjudication, and national media commentary on pressing legal issues.
The PLUS Employment Practices Symposium convenes insurers, risk professionals, and legal leaders from across the country to explore emerging risks and claims trends. Colwin’s participation alongside senior federal officials underscores the firm’s role in national discussions in conversations at the intersection of enforcement policy, litigation strategy, and employer risk management.