Meeting/Event Information

Join us for the highly anticipated Annual Legal Update,

sponsored and hosted by Womble Bond Dickinson.

Get ready for an enriching day filled with valuable insights into the latest legal developments impacting HR professionals:

• 2024 Employee Benefits Update with Patrick Allen
• How Solid is Your Worksite Compliance with Jennifer Cory
• North Carolina Workers' Compensation Current Trends and Decisions with Gemma Saluta
• Social Media and Artificial Intelligence with Richard Rainey

Date: Friday, June 14, 2024

Location: The Law Firm of Womble Bond Dickinson, LLP

1 W First Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Sessions start at 9 a.m. after breakfast and a time of networking)

What to Expect:

Four (4) credit hours covering crucial and timely topics affecting HR professionals, managers, and business owners

Complimentary breakfast and lunch included

About the Speakers:

Jennifer Cory

As the leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Business Immigration Solutions practice group, Jennifer Cory navigates the complexities of US immigration law to design efficient, effective visa routes for her clients, who include educators, entrepreneurs, executives, innovators, and investors in key industry sectors such as academia, automotive, financial, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and technology. Her comprehensive guidance ensures that companies and individuals alike understand and comply with the web of multiple and often confusing regulations that govern the authorized employment and status of non-citizens.

Jennifer’s clients contribute to all aspects of everyday life. They develop and manufacture versatile and cutting-edge
products used in our homes, vehicles, and work environments, conduct research and development that ensures the
safety of the prescriptions that keep us healthy and train the minds of the next generation of globally-oriented citizens. 

Certified as a Specialist in Immigration Law by the North Carolina State Bar, included in Best Lawyers in America in
the field of Immigration Law, and selected as a global leader in Who’s Who Legal for Corporate Immigration, Jennifer
is a locally, nationally, and globally recognized expert.

Allen Patrick

Patrick guides employers in designing, documenting and administering employee retirement and welfare benefit plans.
In addition, clients turn to Patrick for help with COBRA, HIPAA and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
regulatory compliance. Patrick assists clients in correcting form and operational defects in their qualified retirement
plans and in obtaining favorable settlements for companies who have disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, the
Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

Patrick advises clients on employee benefits matters related to corporate transactions. For example, he conducts due
diligence, reviews and drafts employee benefits provisions in acquisition documents, and provides guidance on dealing
with the employee benefit plans of the parties after the transaction closes.

Patrick also negotiates third-party service provider agreements on behalf of welfare and retirement plans sponsored by
employers.

Because of his background in mathematics and his knowledge of computer technology, Patrick is especially adept at
handling retirement distribution planning matters and in analyzing different types of retirement plan formulas to provide
maximum benefits to executives at the lowest possible cost.

Richard Rainey

Richard solves employment law problems. The unfortunate reality is that clients with employees will inevitably have
employment law issues. When that day comes, clients count on Richard to provide a timely and cost efficient solution.
Sometimes that solution may be in the form of providing sage counsel to his clients to prevent or minimize a problem.
Other times, it may be advocating for his client in court or before an administrative agency. Whatever form the solution
may need to take, Richard’s experience and capabilities put his clients in a position to succeed.

Richard enjoys working with a wide range of clients, including large manufacturers, healthcare providers, local
governments, educational institutions and technology companies. He advises these clients on hiring, firing, layoffs,
employee discipline, employee defections, FMLA compliance, wage and hour classifications and other employment
issues in order to avoid claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, unpaid overtime, whistleblowing and unsafe
working environments. In addition, he helps his clients with employee training, handbooks, affirmative action plans,
OFCCP compliance, and workplace investigations and audits. Richard’s clients also turn to him for the crafting of
employment agreements, non-competes and other restrictive covenants, confidentiality agreements, commission
agreements and plans, and separation agreements.

While keeping his clients out of court is Richard’s first goal, adversarial proceedings sometimes cannot be avoided.
Richard has an established record of successfully representing employers in federal and state court, in arbitration, and
before the EEOC, Department of Labor, and other government agencies in all manner of employment law cases.

Richard has written and lectured widely on a variety of employment law topics, including sexual harassment, drug
testing, wage and hour compliance and workplace violence. Richard is the co-editor of the North Carolina Employment
Law Letter, which is a monthly publication updating employers on developments in North Carolina and federal law. His
duties as editor ensure that he stays current with new decisions and developments.

Gema Saluta

Gemma Saluta defends large insurance carriers in first-party bad faith litigation. She has handled claims involving
property, liability, automobile, directors’ and officers’, errors and omissions, and UM/UIM policies. She has defended
cases involving dishonesty exception, insured contract provisions, water exclusions, alleged misconduct of third-party
vendors, claims handling, wrongful procurement, and valuation of settlements. She is also experienced in litigating
reinsurance matters, particularly regarding the relationships between ceding companies, brokers, and reinsurers.

She represents clients in both state and federal courts. She has represented clients in non-jury and jury trials,
arbitrations, and administrative hearings. She has argued before the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Gemma is also experienced in ERISA matters, handling cases regarding long term disability, short term disability,
severance plans, accidental death and dismemberment plans and life insurance plans. She also assists clients in labor
and employment matters such as discrimination, noncompetition agreements, retaliation, workers’ compensation, and
wrongful termination.

For more details on our speakers, visit https://www.womblebonddickinson.com/us/locations/winston-salem.

Remember....Mark your calendars and secure your spot for this essential event in the HR calendar.

We look forward to seeing you there!