Elena Marcuss, managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Baltimore office, has been named chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. She takes over for partner Sabrina A. Beldner, who served in the role since 2020. The transition continues the firm’s longstanding practice of rotating key leadership positions.
Marcuss advises in-house counsel, senior leadership and human resources professionals in all aspects of employment law. She provides advice and counsel regarding everyday employment matters, employment policies, and federal and state discrimination, whistleblower, wage and hour, pay equity, pay transparency and leave laws. She defends employers in complex class and collective actions and whistleblower claims, as well as other federal and state lawsuits and administrative agency actions, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Department of Labor matters. She also conducts investigations of concerns raised by current and former employees.
The Maryland Daily Record named Marcuss to its 2024 “Employment Law Power List” and she is recognized as a top labor and employment lawyer by Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America.
Beldner, based in Century City, California, represents national and multinational companies in individual, class, and representative action claims and labor law matters and conducts high-level employee misconduct investigations and management training on preventing workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation. She counsels management in collective-bargaining negotiations, labor arbitrations and unfair labor practice proceedings. She also advises management on union avoidance, union campaigns and collective-bargaining issues. She serves as a mentor with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and previously chaired McGuireWoods’ LGBTQ+ Lawyers Network and on its Diversity & Inclusion and Recruiting Committees.
Under Beldner’s leadership, McGuireWoods consistently earned Tier 1 nationwide rankings for employment law and labor and employment litigation in U.S. News-Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms” and nationwide rankings for labor and employment in Chambers USA. Among her numerous honors, Beldner was recognized as Labor & Employment Lawyer of the Year in Euromoney’s 2022 Women in Business Law Awards: Americas, and The National Law Journal named her an Employment and Discrimination Law Trailblazer in 2023. Lawdragon has named Beldner to its list of 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers of America each year since 2020, and the Daily Journal selected her for its list of Top Labor & Employment Lawyers in California three times. She also has been honored as a top labor and employment lawyer by Chambers USA.
“Sabrina led our Labor & Employment Department to national heights and we are excited that Elena is stepping up to build on that success as our new chair,” said Noreen Kelly, McGuireWoods’ deputy managing partner for litigation.
“Sabrina became chair of our Labor & Employment Department as the COVID-19 pandemic was creating unprecedented challenges for clients, and her team did outstanding work to help employers navigate that crisis,” said managing partner J. Tracy Walker IV. “We thank her and Elena for their leadership and for all they do to help clients succeed.”