FordHarrison LLP, one of the country’s largest management-side labor and employment law firms, is pleased to announce that four of the firm’s Florida-based attorneys have been named to the 2018 “Florida Legal Elite” list by Florida Trend magazine. Todd S. Aidman, Edward B. Carlstedt, Andrew S. Hament, and Dawn Siler-Nixon were recognized.
Florida Legal Elite is now in its 15th year of publication. The rigorous selection process began with notifying and inviting members of the Florida Bar to nominate attorneys they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others. After the ballots were processed, the list of top vote-getters was further examined using membership status and practice histories provided by the Florida Bar. The 2018 list of Legal Elite attorneys represents the top 1.5 percent of attorneys in the state of Florida.
Todd Aidman is experienced in complex and class action litigation and regularly practices in the trial and appellate levels of federal and state courts, as well as administrative agencies such as the EEOC and DOL. He defends companies in a broad range of employment and labor disputes, including cases involving allegations of age, race, national origin, disability, sex discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, retaliation, fraud, defamation, negligent supervision and retention and breach of contract. He also handles claims involving the FLSA, FMLA, ERISA, the WARN Act, employee handbooks, drug testing, misappropriation of trade secrets, and noncompetition agreements. Todd is nationally known for handling Title III ADA cases as well as collective action brought under the FLSA. He is the co-chair of the firm’s Restaurant Practice Group, and serves on the EPLI and Management Committees.
Ed Carlstedt serves as the office managing partner for FordHarrison’s Tampa office. His practice focuses on trade secret, non-compete and restrictive covenant disputes as well as representing management in employment law matters, including defending employers against harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims. Ed has extensive experience in matters involving trade secret, non-compete and restrictive covenant related issues, and has handled dozens of evidentiary hearings in federal and state courts in connection with such disputes. He has also defended employers in discrimination, harassment, medical leave, wage and hour and other complex litigation matters in state court, federal court, and arbitration proceedings.
Andy Hament is the office managing partner of FordHarrison’s Melbourne office and is certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in Labor and Employment Law. He regularly advises private and public sector employers in discipline and discharge, reductions-in–force, collective bargaining, union grievance/arbitrations, discrimination issues, sexual harassment investigations, executive employment and severance agreements, trade secret and non-compete issues, drug abuse and drug testing, the FMLA and violence in the workplace. Andy regularly represents employers in state and federal courts and in investigations and charges before the EEOC, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, the DOL, the NLRB and the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission. Andy currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Brevard Health Alliance.
Dawn Siler-Nixon has spent two decades partnering with her clients to help guide and direct their employment decisions to avoid the time and expense of litigation, and creating and executing a strategy to defend them through trial should the need arise. Employers turn to her to defend them in administrative proceedings and state and federal court actions involving sex, age, national origin, race and other discrimination claims. Dawn has extensive experience handling FMLA claims and has successfully litigated multiple plaintiff Age Discrimination claims. Dawn is the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Partner with responsibility for the oversight and implementation of the firm’s Diversity Strategic Plan. She is a member of the firm’s Management Group and Executive Committee. Dawn is recognized as a Certified Diversity Executive through the National Institute for Diversity Certification.