NELA National – Protecting Employees’ Rights Since 1987
The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA National) was founded in 1985 by visionary employment attorney Paul Tobias. His goal was to provide assistance and support to lawyers engaged in the important work of protecting the rights of employees. Tobias saw that they need additional help to compete with the greater resources of their employers and the defense bar. NELA is the country’s only professional organization that is exclusively comprised of lawyers who represent individual employees in cases involving employment discrimination, wrongful termination, employee benefits and other employment-related matters.
The Vision
- Employees will be paid at least a living wage in an environment free of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and capricious employment decisions
- Employers will fulfill their promises to provide retirement, health, and other benefits
- Employees’ safety and livelihood will not be compromised for the sake of corporate profit and interests
- Individuals will have effective legal representation to enforce their rights to a fair and just workplace, adequate remedies, and a right to trial by jury
Today, NELA counts more than 4,000 lawyers as members in the United States and abroad. These lawyers have represented hundreds of thousands of individuals in disputes against their employers. NELA submits amicus curiae briefs in virtually all U.S. Supreme Court cases. These briefs involve employment and civil rights-related legal issues. The National Employment Lawyers Association now has more than sixty-nine state and local affiliates around the country, including NELA-NJ, which was founded in 1987 by Peter Van Schaick.