Melissa Muro LaMere and Sara Sidwell Present Keynote Address at Association of Corporate Counsel-Minnesota Annual Conference

Melissa Muro LaMere and Sara Sidwell, partners in Maslon's Litigation and Labor & Employment groups, will moderate a panel discussion June 16 for the 2022 conference of the Association of Corporate Counsel-Minnesota. In the presentation, titled "DEI Issues in a Hybrid Workplace—How to Create an Even Playing Field for Reward and Advancement Regardless of Variables," Melissa, Sara and the panelists, including Haley Schaffer from 3M, Dionne Blake from Target, and Summra Shariff of Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, will discuss evolving issues around workplace culture and ensuring equity in the age of hybrid work.

For more information, go to Association of Corporate Counsel-Minnesota Annual Conference.

Melissa enjoys working with clients to protect and grow their business in a competitive marketplace, providing employment counseling and litigation support across a wide variety of disputes. Melissa also maintains a robust DEI practice, advising clients and giving presentations on the advancement of DEI efforts in the workplace and in the legal profession. She serves on the board of the Minnesota Infinity Project, an organization focused on gender disparity on the bench throughout the Eighth Circuit, and she previously served on the board of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, for which she also served as co-chair of the Judicial Endorsements Committee. In 2019, Melissa was appointed by Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan to the Commission on Judicial Selection.

Sara has extensive experience representing and advising both large and small employers in all aspects of employment law. Sara devotes a large portion of her practice to counseling, where she helps both her Minnesota and multistate clients successfully navigate federal, state, and local employment laws. She works closely with clients to create policies and practices that satisfy both the client’s business needs and the law. Sara regularly assists clients with accommodation and leave management issues, personnel and performance management, organizational restructuring, training, and workplace investigations. With over 10 years' experience in private practice, as well as six years spent in-house at two large, multistate employers, Sara has a unique understanding of her in-house clients’ needs. In all aspects of her practice, Sara considers it critical that she understand clients’ business needs and how the client defines success.