Van Dermyden Makus is proud to announce that Senior Partners Eli Makus and Sue Ann Van Dermyden, along with Senior Attorney Investigator Mark Gabel, have been named to the 2025 California Super Lawyers list — a distinction awarded to only the top 5% of attorneys in the state.

In addition, Senior Attorney Investigator Kayleigh Birks has been selected to the 2025 California Rising Stars list, an honor given to just 2.5% of emerging lawyers in California. To qualify, candidates must be 40 years old or younger or have been practicing law for 10 years or less.

Partners Liz DeChellis and Erich Knorr, presented “Critical Factors that Make (or Break) a Workplace Investigation” at the 2025 State Bar of Arizona Conference on June 25th, in Phoenix, AZ.

This online workshop is a three-hour interactive program designed to improve participants’ investigative report writing skills. Attendees will discuss effective report writing skills and have the opportunity to practice writing the analysis section of a report through small group activities in breakout rooms.

Partners Erich Knorr and Eli Makus will present “Key Considerations in Bullying Investigations” at the Arizona City Attorneys Association Annual Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona on Thursday, May 1st, at 2:55 PM.

Eli Makus, Managing Partner, presented "Workplace Investigator in the Hot Seat: Issues of Privilege and Impartiality" alongside the Workplace Investigations Subcommittee at the ERR Committee Midwinter Meeting & National Symposium on Technology in Labor & Employment Law on Wednesday, March 19th, at 11:30 AM.

Senior Attorney Investigators Kayleigh Birks and Sarah Tobias led a presentation titled “The Twists and Turns of Investigations: How to Tackle the Unexpected” on Wednesday, March 12, at 1:00 PM during the 2025 CalGovHR Conference & Expo in Sonoma Wine Country.

Senior Partner, Eli Makus, will present “The Power of Corroboration in Workplace Investigations” at the HRWest 2025 Conference on March 12th in Oakland, CA.

Partners Liz DeChellis and Erich Knorr will present “Workplace Investigations: Mastering Credibility Assessments” on Friday, February 28th, at 9:15 AM.

Partner, Daphne Pierre Bishop, will participate as a moderator in the the Labor and Employment Law Section of the California Lawyers Association’s 2025 New Employment Practitioner Conference. The session focusing on Workplace Investigations will take place on January 30th from 10:15 AM - 111:45 AM.

Partner Nikki Hall, will chair the panel “Investigations (Investigating a Title VII Complaint)” at the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law’s 2025 Annnual Conference: New Developments in Gender Discrimination, and Harassment Law in California, The United States, and Beyond on Friday, January 24th at 11:45 am.

Sue Ann Van Dermyden and Eli Makus will be presenting “AI -- The Future of Workplace Investigations” on Monday, January 27 at 7:45am.

VM's Liz DeChellis, Michelle Galloway, and Chelsea Alix Tibbs will be conducting the complimentary webinar, “Navigating Neurodivergence in K-12 Investigations: Tips and tools for managing Title IX matters involving neurodiversity” on January 15th at 12:30 PM.

Senior Partner Eli Makus will be presenting the upcoming AWI webinar, “All in on AI: Diving Deep into the Consequences of an AI-Augmented Workplace Investigation Practice” on January 23rd at 11:00 am.

Eli Makus has been highlighted in the RAILS Leadership Spotlight for the month of December. Read his entire profile now.

Managing Partner, Eli Makus will be virtually attending the AWI Florida Local Circle meeting in December as a special guest speaker. Eli will lead the discussion based on his experience working with AWI stakeholders in multiple jurisdictions and his Firm’s experience in California. This discussion will look at privilege as it applies to both internal and external workplace investigations. Come with questions, cases, and opinions on this critical element of the workplace investigation practice.