McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, Professional Association is pleased to announce that Charla Bizios Stevens has been named Director of the Human Resources State Council of New Hampshire, (“HRSCNH”).
An affiliate of the Society for Human Resources Management, the HRSCNH serves as the local starting point for networking, information, professional development and continued support of professional excellence for New Hampshire’s HR practitioners.
Charla is a director in McLane’s Litigation Department and has been practicing law in New Hampshire since 1984. She has extensive background addressing litigated and non-litigated employment issues such as discrimination, harassment, employee classification and wage and hour claims. She assists employers in responding to labor audits, preparing personnel policies and minimizing risk in the hiring, discipline and termination of employees. She conducts management and harassment training and works with employers to maintain legal compliance in a cost-efficient and effective way.
Charla has worked extensively advising independent schools regarding risk management and policy writing with respect to issues involving both students and employees. She also has a diverse health care practice representing physician practice groups, health centers, mental health practitioners and ancillary providers regarding compliance, licensing, discipline and other issues.
Her litigation background includes practice in the state and federal courts and before numerous state and federal administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor, the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Charla is often called upon to represent businesses in preparing for and responding to state and federal wage and hour audits and in conducting workplace investigations.
She has been named in Chambers USA: A Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers (Labor and Employment) and is BV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Charla is a member of the American Bar Association’s, (“ABA”), Litigation Section, serving as Co-Chair, First Chair of the Press Committee; former Co-Chair of the Family Litigation Committee, and member of the Women Advocate, Health Law and Labor and Employment Law Committees. She is also a member of the ABA’s Section of Labor and Employment. She is a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association’s, (“NHBA”), Labor and Employment (where she serves as Vice Chair) and Health Law Sections. She is also a member of the NHBA’s Dispute Resolution Committee. She is Programming Director of the New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association and serves on the North Shore Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts. A trained mediator and collaborative lawyer, she is also a member of the International Association of Collaborative Law and the Collaborative Law Alliance of New Hampshire.
Prior to being named Director of the New Hampshire State Council, Charla served as the organization’s Director of Legislative Affairs. She is a member of Smaller Business Association of New England; the North Shore High Tech Council (serving on the Women’s Initiative Committee); and the Heritage United Way (serving on the Health Care Community Impact Team).
She is also the 2008 recipient of McLane’s Jack B. Middleton Pro Bono Legal Services Award, and serves as the current chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Charla received her J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 1984 and her B.S., cum laude, from Merrimack College in 1981.
She lives in Bedford, New Hampshire with her husband and children, and splits her time equally between McLane’s Manchester, New Hampshire, and Woburn, Massachusetts, offices. She can be reached at charla.stevens@mclane.com or by phone in Manchester at (603) 628-1363 or in Woburn at (781) 904-2700.
About the McLane Law Firm
Founded in 1919, McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, Professional Association is the largest full-service law firm in the state of New Hampshire, with offices in Manchester, Concord and Portsmouth, as well as Woburn, Massachusetts. Driven by the firm’s depth of sophisticated legal expertise and an unwavering commitment to client service, McLane has built collaborative and lasting relationships with a broad spectrum of domestic and international clients. www.mclane.com