Lana Layton, Esq.*, is a Partner with The Law Firm of John P. Mahoney, Esq., Attorneys at Law, PLLC, specializing in federal employment law. With over 25 years of employment law experience, Attorney Layton’s law practice concentrates on representing federal employees in complex matters against federal agencies, including:
- Defending employees against proposed disciplinary and adverse actions in written and oral replies to deciding officials;
- Appealing unjustified adverse actions to the MSPB (Merit Systems Protection Board);
- Filing EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) complaints challenging unlawful employment discrimination, retaliation, and harassment in the workplace based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, genetics, and/or prior EEO activity;
- Litigating EEO claims in hearings before the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), as well as in federal district courts;
- Filing complaints of whistleblower reprisal and other prohibited personnel practices with the OSC (Office of Special Counsel) and agency Inspectors General;
- Advising and guiding employees in administrative misconduct and Congressional investigations; and,
- Successfully negotiating and settling complex litigation claims.
Prior to private practice, Ms. Layton was an Administrative Judge with the EEOC for sixteen years, managing the entire hearings process from complaint filing to resolution, hearing thousands of cases, rendering bench and written decisions, summary judgment orders, resolving a variety of motions, as well as successfully mediating thousands of employment claims. A skilled negotiator, Ms. Layton is a Certified Mediator and has successfully negotiated hundreds of high dollar value cases as a Judge, as well as in private practice.
Ms. Layton has also litigated in both State and Federal Courts representing Plaintiffs and Defendants. She has significant experience representing clients at various stages of litigation, including discovery, depositions, motions practice, hearings and trials. She has counseled, advised and provided outreach and training to both private sector companies and federal agencies throughout the United States on employment law and best practices for litigators. She has also worked as a consultant providing counsel and training on a wide range of employment law related topics.
Ms. Layton graduated from UNC School of Law which is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the 22nd best law school in the country. As a member of the Moot Court Team, she won both the local and national Moot Court competition for best negotiator.
Ms. Layton is also an adjunct college professor, teaching Business Law, Ethics and Public Speaking at the undergraduate level, as well as having managed the EEOC’s Law School Internship program where she mentored law school students on all levels of litigation.
Ms. Layton is admitted to practice law in Georgia, as well as the U.S. Federal District Courts in Georgia.
* LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN GEORGIA ONLY. NOT ADMITTED TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PRACTICE LIMITED TO PROVIDING LEGAL SERVICES TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SOLELY BEFORE SPECIAL COURTS, DEPARTMENTS, OR AGENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
