Cozza, Andrea L.

After beginning her legal practice as a litigator in Baltimore, Maryland, Jody Florence joined the firm in 1998 and became a partner in 2003. Since joining the firm, she has exclusively represented and advised employers in labor and employment matters. In addition to assisting clients with preventative measures such as employee and supervisor training and the development of internal policies, Jody focuses upon defending employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, tortious conduct, and wage and hour violations before Nevada's state and federal courts, as well as its administrative agencies such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, and the Nevada Labor Commissioner. Jody has guided hotel/casino, call center, construction, and medical employers of all sizes through layoffs and wage reductions, executive hiring and termination issues, salary classification audits, internal investigations, ADA and FMLA issues, management of litigating employees, and the development, implementation, and management of sensitive employment policies such as appearance, drug and alcohol, and English-only policies. Additionally, she has considerable experience representing private and public employers in complex labor arbitrations over management's just cause termination decisions.

In 2006, Jody secured an important victory before the Nevada Supreme Court in the case of Michael Thomas and John Armstrong v. City of North Las Vegas which preserves arbitration as an effective and final method for dispute resolution in Nevada and other states. Jody has been listed in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers®. She was also recognized as a Super Lawyer in the 2010 edition of Mountain States Super Lawyers and as a Rising Star in the 2008 edition of that publication.

At the Ohio State University, where Jody graduated with distinction in Criminal Justice, she received the 1991-1992 Outstanding Undergraduate Sociology Major Award. Jody then attended the University of Baltimore School of Law where she was a member and Managing Editor of the University of Baltimore Law Review. Jody is the author of Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, The Job Description (DRI Winter 2004), and co-author of many publications, including: The Ever-Evolving Claim of Sexual Harassment, Communique (March 2007); When You Have Mail Turns Into You Have A Lawsuit, Communique (Dec. 1998) and Employees' Section 7 Rights - The Rest of the Story, Nevada Labor Letter (Vol. VI, No. 9, Sept. 1998).

Jody presently is a member of the American Bar Association, the Nevada Bar Association, and the Clark County Bar Association. She served as a Director of the Clark County Bar Association from 2003 through 2004 and Co-Chair and Chair of the Community Service Committee of the Clark County Bar Association from 2001 through 2002.

Jody and her husband Rick are extremely proud parents of two young boys, and she spends most of her free time chasing after them and their Great Dane nanny. She hopes to instill in the boys her love of the outdoors, hiking, and Ohio State football.