Anne Widlak, a partner at Detroit-based employment law firm Nemeth Burwell, P.C., has been named a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment by American Lawyer Media, a leading provider of news and information to the legal industry, and Martindale-Hubbell™, a highly regarded legal peer review organization. American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell joined forces on this rating effort to highlight the “Top Rated Lawyers” in the February issue of The National Law Journal. Ms. Widlak is included in the listing as a result of achieving the AV Preeminent® peer review rating, the highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards.

As a litigator and counselor, Ms. Widlak successfully defends cases in state and federal courts involving a comprehensive array of claims, including workplace harassment; discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, national origin and other protected categories; retaliation; violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act; wrongful discharge; and intentional interference with an at-will employment relationship.

Active in the legal community, Ms. Widlak has been a volunteer hearing panel member of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board (ADB) since 1998 and was appointed a panel Chairperson in 2006, a position she continues to hold. The ADB is the adjudicative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court for discharge of its exclusive authority to supervise and discipline Michigan attorneys.  The hearing panels conduct trial-level hearings to review evidence in connection with a complaint of ethical misconduct filed against an attorney with the Attorney Grievance Commission. Additionally, Ms. Widlak was the first female chair of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Michigan, serving from 2002 to 2003.  She is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than one-half of one percent of lawyers in the United States. 

Ms. Widlak is the fourth generation of lawyers in her family to have been prominent members of the legal community in the City of Detroit and is the first female in her family to have practiced law in the City as part of that long tradition. She was named one of Michigan’s 25 Leaders in the Law in 2012 by legal trade publication, Michigan Lawyers Weekly and has also been named a Michigan Super Lawyer each year since 2008. She serves as a volunteer attorney at a Detroit warming center for the homeless as part of Project H.E.L.P. (Homeless Experience Legal Protection), which partners with local homeless service programs to offer clinics that provide free legal advice and assistance to homeless individuals.

Ms. Widlak holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English from Georgetown University.  She earned her law degree from the Wayne State University School of Law.

Nemeth Burwell (www.nemethburwell.com) specializes in employment litigation, traditional labor law and management consultation for private and public sector employers.   It is the largest women-owned law firm in Michigan to exclusively represent management in the prevention, resolution and litigation of labor and employment disputes.