This attorney has been selected for the recognitions mentioned herein, which have been conferred by the corresponding publications and/or organizations noted. An overview of the award selection methodologies for these recognitions can be found at https://www.gibbonslaw.com/awards. Links to certain specific methodologies are embedded in individual entries. Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Ms. Amalfe is included on the Best Lawyers®, Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and New Jersey Super Lawyers lists in various employment categories. As Chair of the firm’s Employment & Labor Law Group, Ms. Amalfe manages lawyers across four of eight Gibbons offices, overseeing legal, administrative, and business development functions for one of the firm’s most active business units, with clients among the world’s best-known companies representing industries critical to the local, state, and regional economies.
In addition, Ms. Amalfe is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and serves as Human Resources General Counsel for Gibbons, and she is a co-founder of the internationally recognized Gibbons Women’s Initiative.
Ms. Amalfe is regularly commended by clients for understanding their business needs while aggressively litigating their legal issues and providing comprehensive employment related counseling and training. She has been extensively involved in defending single plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, and class claims under state and federal employment laws. She also conducts multi-faceted employment counseling and training for corporate clients, public entities, and educational institutions.
Areas of Focus
Employment Litigation
Ms. Amalfe handles claims for sexual harassment and discrimination, as well as state and federal whistleblower claims. She is regularly involved in matters alleging breach of express or implied employment contracts, intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of restrictive covenants. Ms. Amalfe represents corporate defendants, as well as individual officers, directors, or employees who have been sued personally, for sexual harassment, negligent supervision, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. She also has acted as a mediator in cases involving discrimination, harassment, and invasion of privacy in matters involving sexual identity and sexual orientation. Ms. Amalfe litigates claims before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), National Futures Association (NFA), and American Arbitration Association (AAA). Relatedly, she represents employers in litigation involving a variety of contract and tort causes of action and claims involving restrictive covenants, trade secrets, and other alleged violations of employment agreements. She has litigated claims involving the alleged theft of trade secrets and has sought and defended against temporary restraining orders and injunction applications. Ms. Amalfe also handles wage and hour matters ranging from administrative proceedings to FLSA collective actions, including a recent donning and doffing “off the clock” wage and hour class action filed in New Jersey, a case she strategically positioned to achieve an early settlement on very beneficial terms for her client.
Employment Counseling and Training
Ms. Amalfe also works with clients proactively, in order to prevent or resolve employment disputes before they lead to costly litigation. She adeptly guides clients on their compliance with federal and state discrimination, family and/or medical leave, whistleblower, and wage and hour laws, and she provides in-depth counseling in connection with, for example, workforce restructuring, employee terminations, discipline, and performance. Ms. Amalfe also conducts internal investigations of employee discrimination, harassment, and other alleged misconduct. She develops, revises, and presents employment practices training sessions, as well as comprehensive employee handbooks and manuals, all designed to help clients address such complex issues as effective hiring, performance management, terminations, and compliance with the broad range of laws governing the employer/employee relationship, as well as to prevent such or potentially disruptive issues as workplace harassment, bullying, and discrimination.
Employment Agreements: Executive Compensation, Trade Secrets, and Restrictive Covenants
Ms. Amalfe represents major companies, as well as executive-level employees, in the negotiation of employment and separation agreements that address such terms as compensation, equity awards, and restrictive covenants. Clients range from C-suite professionals in the insurance industry to private equity firm partners to Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Amalfe advises clients on non-competition, anti-raiding, and confidentiality provisions; waivers of discrimination and other employment-based claims; golden parachute and related provisions; and change of control provisions dealing with severance payments and accelerated vesting and funding of nonqualified deferred compensation plans and equity-based compensation plans.
Investigations
Ms. Amalfe conducts comprehensive investigations to ensure her clients’ compliance with a full range of federal and state employment laws when dealing with workplace conduct issues. She has handled numerous employment related privileged and non-privileged investigations, including investigations conducted for public sector and government entities, nonprofits, major regional universities, financial institutions, and many Fortune 200 companies, among others. These investigations address alleged workplace misconduct under codes of conduct and/or under the companies’ anti-discrimination and retaliation policies. Ms. Amalfe has also conducted investigations relating to student complaints under Title IX and other related laws. In addition, she regularly provides legal advice and counsel to internal investigators.
Higher Education
Ms. Amalfe has a strong higher education practice, with an emphasis on helping higher education clients achieve campus-wide compliance with Title IX and federal and state anti-discrimination laws, and recommending improvements as necessary. She also has prepared custom training programs for institutions’ academic and athletic staff members, focusing in particular on their responsibilities under Title IX, and has conducted numerous investigations for higher education clients of employee- and student-related complaints. Ms. Amalfe is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and she has been appointed to the New Jersey State Bar Association Higher Education Committee.
Advancing Women in the Profession
Ms. Amalfe was recently elected at-large trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA). In this position, which is designated for a woman by the NJSBA bylaws and Board of Trustees, she will advocate for the women lawyers of the state and work to increase the involvement of women in the organization.
Throughout her career, Ms. Amalfe has been dedicated to work on behalf of the advancement of women at Gibbons and throughout the legal profession and business community. She co-founded the Gibbons Women’s Initiative (GWI), a Catalyst Award-winning effort involving more than 60 Gibbons women and 2,000 invited women participants who engage with each other in high-quality educational, networking, social, charitable, and mentoring programs. Within the broader business community, Ms. Amalfe has been an active member of the New Jersey Council on Gender Parity since its inception, helping to create national and statewide programs and research projects addressing gender equity issues in various professions. She successfully led fundraising efforts for a study of the legal industry, using her influence in the legal community to secure nearly 600 participants. She is a member of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, earning the organization’s Women’s Initiative & Leaders in Law (WILL) Platinum Award in 2008. In addition, Ms. Amalfe previously served as Trustee for NJSBA’s Women in the Profession Section and on its Task Force on Work-Life Balance. For the last several years, Ms. Amalfe has regularly been included on the New Jersey Super Lawyers “Top 50 Female Attorneys” list.
Credentials
Education
Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., magna cum laude)
- Order of the Coif
- Senior Editor, Syracuse Law Review, 1984-1985
Seton Hall University (B.S., magna cum laude)
Professional Admissions
State of New Jersey
State of New York
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Professional Activities
American College of Trial Lawyers
Fellow
National Association of College and University Attorneys
American College of Employment Lawyers
Academy of New Jersey Management Attorneys Inc.
Founding Member
New Jersey State Bar Association
President-Elect, 2024-2025
First Vice President, 2023-2024
Second Vice President, 2022-2023
Treasurer, 2021-2022
Secretary, 2020-2021
Trustee, 2013
Future of Legal Services Task Force, 2022
Chair, Law Firm Opening and Operations Committee, Pandemic Task Force, 2020
Executive Committee Member, Labor & Employment Law Section
Amicus Committee, 2017-2018
Higher Education Committee, 2017-2018
Judicial Administration Committee, 2017-2018
General Council Executive Committee
Pro Bono Committee, 1995-1997
Trustee, Women in the Profession Section
New Jersey State Bar Foundation
Trustee
Essex County Bar Association
American Bar Association
Labor and Employment Law Section
EEO Committee
Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee
Women in the Profession Section
Advisory Council for the Initiative on Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in Law/Summit Co-Chair, 2017-2018
National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
President, NAWL Foundation, 2012-2013
American College of Trial Lawyers
Fellow
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
Federal Bar Association
Litigation Counsel of America
Senior Fellow
Seton Hall University School of Law
Adjunct Professor, Legal Writing and Advocacy, 1992-1993
Gibbons Law Alert blog (www.gibbonslawalert.com)
Editorial Board
New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Expedited Civil Actions
New York City Council Task Force on Discrimination and Harassment
Civic/Charitable Activities
American Bar Foundation