Leah strategically advises employers on compliance with employment laws and defends actions before agencies including the EEOC, DOL, and NLRB. Leah has substantial federal trial experience, conducts workplace and board training sessions, and guides managers through workplace investigations.

Leah has traveled the Mid-Atlantic region speaking about diversity and implicit bias. She has presented to many audiences, including front-line employees, upper management, and Human Resources Professionals. During her sessions, Leah encourages the audience to consider the impact of their workplace conduct, engender civility, and work together to prevent harassment and discrimination.

Leah maintains a niche focus on higher education. She provides day-to-day compliance advice to public and private institutions on employment and student-related matters. For instance, she assists higher education in navigating Title VII, Title IX, and code of conduct investigations, faculty, administrative, and athletic coach contracts and severance packages, tenure processes, and pay equity audits. Leah also trains school leadership, such as Deans and Chairs, on improving documentation and engaging in performance management of faculty, in addition to conducting employment-related trainings, such as harassment, workplace violence, and Title IX compliance.

Leah’s workplace training sessions cover topics such as workplace violence, FMLA/ADA and all employee medical leave or workers’ compensation concerns, FLSA/wage and hour obligations, documentation and discipline, performance reviews/PIPs, Form I-9 best practices, and addressing employee conduct on social media. In every case, Leah works with her clients to create a custom training program that will address their unique workforce situations.

In addition to public speaking, Leah works extensively with employers to develop employment contracts, workplace policies, and employee handbooks that suit specific company-specific needs.

Leah advises many civic and community clients including the Roanoke City Police Department’s Threat Assessment Task Force on employer obligations in the face of workplace safety and security concerns. Leah also provides extensive counsel to non-profit organizations nationwide and takes on civil rights trials for prisoners in federal court. The Virginia Access to Justice Commission named Leah to the 2020-21 Pro Bono Service Honor Roll.

Leah believes strongly in the value of youth athletics and is Chair of the Board for Virginia Amateur Sports, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes physical fitness and healthy lifestyles and runs the Virginia Commonwealth Games—the largest multi-sport festival held in Virginia each year. She is also on the board of the Young Women’s Leadership Alliance.

A Virginia native, Leah joined Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black after completing a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Lawrence R. Leonard, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Thought Leadership

Life happens at work. Are your employees discussing the George Floyd tragedy?, The Roanoke Times, June 5, 2020

Speak the Unspoken: Fighting Your Implicit Bias and Channeling Understanding, Opening Statement, Fall 2019

Subconscious Thoughts and Their Impact on the Workplace, Lynchburg Business, November/December 2018

Avoiding The Catch-22: Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard to Protect Freshwater Resources and Promote Energy Independence, 48 University of Richmond Law Review 1063, 2014

Attorney Perspectives

Speaking Engagements

  • Richmond Compensation Association Breakfast Meeting | Pay Equity Refresh: Balancing the Scales
    December 13, 2023
  • Virginia Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program 19th Annual Fall Retreat | Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to Build a Stronger Legal Profession
    September 15, 2023
  • Virginia Compensation Board | Lawful Employment Training
    May 10, 2023
  • HR Virginia 2023 Annual Conference | Pay Equity Refresh: Balancing the Scales
    April 25, 2023
  • Richmond SHRM | You’re Keeping Your Lawyer Up at Night: Common Mistakes that Lead to Lawsuits
    March 16, 2023
  • CUPA-HR Virginia Chapter Event | Employment Legal Update 2023
    January 25, 2023
  • Mississippi Credit Union Association | Labor & Employment Training
    December 21, 2022
  • Mississippi Credit Union Association | Labor & Employment Training
    August 24, 2022
  • Lynchburg SHRM | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Where are we in 2022?
    August 11, 2022
  • Mississippi Credit Union Association | Labor & Employment Training
    June 30, 2022
  • Richmond SHRM | 2022 Legal Update
    March 17, 2022
  • Virginia Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration | Legal Update
    March 14, 2022
  • Mississippi Credit Union Association | Legal Developments in Labor & Employment
    February 24, 2022
  • Charlottesville SHRM | Legal Update 2022
    February 8, 2022
  • 47th Annual Advanced Business Law Conference 2021 - Virginia CLE | Valuing Diversity and Recognizing Implicit Bias
    September 24, 2021
  • Shenandoah Valley SHRM 2021 Virginia Legal Forum | How Does a Lawsuit Work
    September 15, 2021
  • The Medical Advisory Group of Lynchburg | Harassment, Bullying, and Other Workplace Issues
    September 8, 2021
  • Richmond SHRM | Six Months In: How Has the New Administration Affected Employers?
    July 20, 2021
  • Young Professionals of Central Virginia | The Future of Work: The Gig Economy, Remote Work, DEI Initiatives, and More
    May 6, 2021
  • Northern Virginia Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators | COVID-19 at Work in 2021
    April 15, 2021
  • HR Virginia Annual Conference 2021 | Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Employees with Competing Interests
    April 11, 2021
  • Lynchburg SHRM | How an Employment Lawsuit Works
    April 8, 2021
  • IPMA-Va Spring Conference | 2021 Legal Updates
    March 23, 2021
  • Virginia College and University Professional Association for HR | What’s New in the Biden Administration
    March 9, 2021
  • Richmond SHRM | Will It Stay or Will It Go? Planning for the New Administration
    March 4, 2021
  • Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police | Fair Labor Standards Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, & Family Medical Leave Act
    March 3, 2021
  • Virginia Credit Union League | COVID-19 at Work: 2021 Legal Updates
    January 26, 2021
  • CUPA-HR Virginia Chapter | CUPA-HR Virginia Legal Update
    December 15, 2020
  • Richmond SHRM | Virginia’s New Employment Laws
    November 12, 2020
  • Virginia Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration | Legal Update
    October 21, 2020
  • Virginia Credit Union League | Virginia’s Updated Workplace Standards & EFMLA
    August 5, 2020
  • International Public Management Association for Human Resources - Virginia Chapter | Employee Leave Under FFCRA & 6 Steps to Take if an Employee Tests Positive
    June 18, 2020
  • VACAP Human Resources Peer Group | COVID-19 – Returning to Work: Legal Issues Agencies Need to Consider
    June 10, 2020
  • Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce | COVID-19 Webinar Series
    April 24, 2020
  • Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police | 2020 New Chiefs/Deputy Chiefs Training School: FLSA, ADA, & FMLA
    March 4, 2020
  • Richmond SHRM | 2020 Legal Update: Hot Topics and Practical Advice
    February 20, 2020
  • VASHRRA | Roanoke/Southwest Regional Event
    October 18, 2019
  • IPMA-HR Virginia Chapter Regional Workshop | Strengthening Your Supervisory Skills in Employment Law
    October 16, 2019
  • VA Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration | VaSHHRA Regional Event: HR Legal Update
    October 9, 2019
  • Richmond SHRM | HR on Mock Trial: Romance Gone Wrong (Allegedly)
    September 19, 2019
  • Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia | Hot Button Legal Issues in HR
    May 22, 2019
  • Lynchburg Regional Alliance Business Summit | Employment Law Updates
    April 30, 2019
  • Association of Government Accountants | Federal Employment Laws Every Leader Should Know
    April 25, 2019
  • International Public Management Association for HR – Virginia Chapter | Discrimination & Harassment in the #MeToo Era
    March 12, 2019
  • International Public Management Association for HR – Virginia Chapter | Hot Topics in Your Employee Handbook
    March 12, 2019
  • Virginia Society of CPAs – Roanoke Chapter | Federal Laws Every Leader Should Know
    January 24, 2019
  • Virginia Women's Conference | Valuing Diversity and Recognizing Implicit Bias
    November 17, 2018
  • Virginia Employment Commission | FMLA, ADA, Workers’ Compensation in the Workplace
    October 30, 2018
  • Virginia Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration | Legal Updates in the Health Care Industry
    October 26, 2018
  • Virginia Society of CPAs | Harassment and Diversity
    October 18, 2018
  • Virginia Employment Commission | FLSA Issues and Social Media in the Workplace
    September 27, 2018
  • Richmond SHRM | HR on (Mock) Trial: Racial Discrimination
    September 20, 2018
  • Lynchburg SHRM | Internal Workplace Investigations
    September 13, 2018
  • Virginia Employment Commission | Recent Developments in Employment Law
    August 23, 2018
  • Virginia Employment Commission | Employee Handbooks and Social Media in the Workplace
    August 23, 2018
  • Virginia Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Conference | Diversity in the Law
    April 20, 2018
  • Lynchburg Bar Association | Diversity and Implicit Bias in the Law
    April 20, 2018
  • Local Government Attorneys of Virginia | All Aboard the Employment Train: Bringing People on Board — An Overview of the Hiring Process, I-9 Compliance, and Other Immigration Issues of Relevance to Local Governments
    April 19, 2018
  • VT Roanoke Higher Education Center | Workplace Violence
    March 3, 2018

Seminars + Events

  • Stronger Together: WRVB 2022 Labor & Employment Seminars
    October 6 - October 24, 2022
  • 40th Annual Labor & Employment Webinar Series
    October 7 – November 4, 2021
  • HR LifeLine: 2020 Labor & Employment Webinar Series
    Every Thursday in October, 2020
  • 2019 Labor and Employment Seminar Series
    October 2 - November 5, 2019
  • 37th Annual Labor & Employment Seminar Series
    September 20 - October 17, 2018

Recognition