Claudia A. Reis

While a deep knowledge of New Jersey employment law is important, the successful representation of employees in employment claims requires so much more. Over the course of twenty years practicing employment law, Claudia Reis has learned that understanding relationships and what motivates the people in those relationships is as important as knowing the law. That is because while work is primarily a means to maintaining financial well-being, people’s careers and job performance provide real senses of pride, self-worth, and accomplishment. Those things are often shattered when employees are unlawfully discriminated against, harassed, or retaliated against at work or unlawfully fired. As a result, in addition to facing substantial financial setbacks, employees who suffer discrimination, retaliation, or harassment are also left to cope with real emotional upheaval and losses of confidence that impact them in various ways for many years to come. Having an employment attorney who not only understands this but can effectively communicate it to company lawyers, judges, and juries is the difference between an employment lawyer whose scope of knowledge is limited to the law and one who effectively represents clients.

Claudia recognizes that employment law is intensely personal. For that reason, she makes sure to understand who her clients are now, how that changed from before they were illegally targeted, what their goals are, and how to best achieve those goals whether through negotiations, mediation, litigation, or arbitration. The way that Claudia approaches employment law has put thousands of employees back on their feet after professional setbacks and allowed them to move forward with their dignity, reputations, and financial well-being intact. While she has found a calling in helping clients through some of the worst times in their lives to finding their footing and strength again, she also finds fulfillment in knowing that her efforts often have positive impacts on workplaces for countless other employees – one employer at a time.

But Claudia also understands that successfully guiding employees through unlawful terminations or workplace discrimination, retaliation or harassment also requires a deep understanding of the labor market, business strategies, and employer motivations. This is where Claudia’s experience really sets her apart from other New Jersey employment lawyers. To get in employers’ heads and to better understand their attorneys’ tactical and strategic maneuvering, Claudia worked for one of the largest national employment defense firms. There, she developed a deep knowledge of what motivates employers as well as how they hide evidence of illegal discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, how they dismantle plaintiffs’ claims, and how they try to justify unlawful firings. Once she returned to representing employees in employment claims, Claudia Reis put that knowledge to work for the benefit of New Jersey employees. Her dogged determination and insistence on obtaining justice has resulted in the successful resolution of thousands of employment claims.

Because of the successful results achieved on behalf of her clients, Claudia Reis is recognized by New Jersey employment attorneys representing both employers and employees. For example, she has been named among the Top 50 New Jersey Women Super Lawyers receiving the most votes from other members of the bar, and she was included in the Top 100 New Jersey Super Lawyers in 2016 and 2017. Also, she has been selected for inclusion in Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers’ list in the areas of labor and employment law and plaintiffs' employment litigation since 2006 when she was among only 2.5% of attorneys in the State named to the Risings Stars list*. In 2018, Claudia was designated Lawyer of the Year in the field of Employment Law-Individuals for the Newark Metropolitan Area by Best Lawyers in America based upon the votes of her peers in the labor and employment law bar. Claudia has also been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America list in the practice area of labor and employment law since 2017*.

Claudia also frequently lectures and writes articles about employment law for various organizations and groups such as the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the National Employment Lawyers Association/New Jersey, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America – New Jersey, the New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly, and county bar organizations as well as employment defense groups.

She has ascended to leadership positions in various employment law organizations in New Jersey such as being a past-President of the National Employment Lawyers Association/New Jersey (NELA-NJ), a member of the Executive Section of the Labor & Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, as well as the former Secretary, Acting Treasurer, and a Board Member of NELA-NJ. She is also a member of the New Jersey Association for Justice (NJAJ), and a Barrister with the Sidney Reitman Employment Law American Inn of Court.