Florida Employment Law expert board certified employment lawyer, B.C.S. expert by FL Bar
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Know your obligations under current federal and Florida law affecting employees and business. Send an email to Employment Law attorney Phyllis Towzey. Her email is phyllis at towzey dot com.
Phyllis J. Towzey is a Board Certified Specialist (B.C.S.*) in labor and employment law. The Florida Bar has awarded her the credential of expert which means she is qualified to provide any and all legal services in labor and employment law matters.
She holds an ‘AV’ rating from Martindale, the highest rating available for both expertise and trustworthiness. Her firm is in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, and the Inaugural Edition of the Bar Register of Preeminent Woman Lawyers, 2011. She has been selected for Florida SuperLawyers 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 , 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Ms. Towzey is also selected for “Tampa’s Best Lawyers” from the Tampa Bay Business Journal, selected for the prestigious and The Best Lawyers in America, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017,2018, 2019 and 2020. Best Lawyers has also named Ms. Towzey as the best employment lawyer for businesses in Saint Petersburg.
For The Florida Bar, Ms. Towzey served on the Labor and Employment Law School Liaison Committee and the Labor and Employment Law Wage and Hour Administration Liaison Committee.
Ms. Towzey provides representation to businesses, physicians, professionals, and senior executives regarding compliance with federal and state laws and regulations affecting labor and employment, and offers management seminars targeted at employment litigation risk management.
Ms. Towzey is a litigator specializing in employment law. Her practice includes trials in state and federal court and appeals. She is admitted to practice in all Florida Courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Fourth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Florida and the Southern District of Florida.
Ms. Towzey has experience as a certified mediator and arbitrator in both state and federal court, with an additional specialization in employment law cases.
Ms. Towzey is a chapter author for Personnel Law Update, and Certificate in Human Resource Management , and Employment Law Hot Topics, all published for The George Washington University by the Council on Education In Management, Charlotte, North Carolina. Ms. Towzey serves on the editorial board for the Employment Law reference book Employment Evidence, authored by Eugene K. Hollander. For the best selling novel, Nothing To Fear, by Karen Rose, published by Warner Books, Ms. Towzey served as legal technical advisor to the author.
For The Florida Bar, Ms. Towzey presented a Labor and Employment Law Webinar: FLSA Update: Dionne and its Progeny, Calculating Back Pay in Failed Exemption Cases, Recent Decisions Applying Lynn’s Food Stores, Disclosure Obligations and Other Emerging Issues in Wage and Hour law.
Ms. Towzey was founding member in 1992 of the St. Petersburg-based commercial litigation law firm, Carter, Stein, Ford, Schaaf, Towzey, Nelson and Williams LLP. Ms. Towzey was member for ten years before leaving that firm to open her private practice in the historic Kress Building across from the courthouse in downtown St. Petersburg.
Ms. Towzey is a former senior litigation associate in Tampa, Florida, for the international law firm, DLA Piper, where she handled business litigation matters, including employment, banking law and contract disputes.
She served as a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee for Chase Federal Bank in Miami, Florida, which was the second largest Florida-based bank before its sale to Bank of America. She served for six years as board secretary and member of the executive committee of the LCC Day School in St. Petersburg. She is a former co-chair of the employment law section and a member of the strategic planning committee for the St. Petersburg Bar Association.
Ms. Towzey interned with Judge Delores K. Sloviter, Chief Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ms. Towzey has been a guest speaker at American Bar Association Employment Law seminars and she provides Employment Law workshops for clients and prospective clients.
Before practicing law, Ms. Towzey, a nationally accredited public relations practitioner (APR), served as Regional Director of Communications for the American Red Cross in Philadelphia. She was awarded the APR credential when she was 24 and was among the youngest ever accredited by the Public Relations Society of America.
Ms. Towzey received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her Juris Doctor degree (with high honors) from Rutgers Law School, where she served as Articles editor of the Rutgers Law Journal.
To read Phyllis Towzey quoted in the Tampa Bay Times, click here, here, here or here.
To read Phyllis Towzey quoted with picture in Florida Trend Magazine click here.
Phyllis Towzey publishes a news, commentary and tips blog — www.floridaemploymentlawupdate.com
The Law Office of Phyllis J. Towzey, P.A. The Kress Building, Suite 401, 475 Central Ave., Saint Petersburg, FL 33701
727-895-1200 (phone)
email is phyllis at towzey dot com
*Board certified Florida Bar members are the only Florida attorneys allowed to identify themselves as “Board Certified,”“Specialist,” “Expert” or to use the letters “B.C.S.” for Board Certified Specialist.
Termination Disputes, Severance Agreements, Employment Agreements, Non-Compete Agreements, Employee Handbooks and Seminars, Sexual Harassment Claims, Discrimination Claims, Wage & Hour, Whistleblower Claims, Dept. of Labor Investigations, Unemployment Appeals Commission (UAC) Appeals, employment litigation defense in federal court and more.