Attorney for Employers
Gregg Gerlach is well-recognized as one of the premier labor and employment lawyers in Florida. He has received the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating of AV Preeminent, reflecting that Mr. Gerlach’s peers have rated him as having the highest ethical standards and professional ability. Gregg Gerlach is a Florida and Texas labor relations and employment attorney, who for over 30 years has represented employers in all workplace and employee matters Florida Super Lawyer Magazine designated Mr. Gerlach as one of the top Labor and Employment lawyers in Florida.
Gregg Gerlach 
Founding Principal
Mr. Gerlach has litigated labor and employment law disputes since 1991. He has successfully defended a broad range of employers in both the federal and state courts. Mr. Gerlach concentrates his practice in the trial and arbitration of discrimination and sexual harassment claims, COBRA claims, contract and tort disputes, non-competition issues, and wage and hour matters. He is an EEOC attorney, handles non-compete lawsuits, and ADA cases.
He has successfully litigated in Florida, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Georgia, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Colorado. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and he studied law at the University of Houston Law Center.
Legal Honors & Awards
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- Florida Trend magazine, “Legal Elite”
- 15 years “Super Lawyers” by Super Lawyers magazine
- Certified in Florida Public Sector Labor Relations by The Florida Public Employer Labor Relations Association
- 2023 AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
- The Best Lawyers in America – Labor and Employment Law
- AVVO rating of 9.4
- Lawyer Legion recognition for Professional Involvement
- 2023 “Best Employment Lawyers in Jacksonville” by Expertise.com
- Super Lawyers magazine “Florida Super Lawyers” and “Super Lawyers – Corporate Counsel Edition”
Memberships
Gregg is co-founder of the First Coast Lawyers Forum and former Chair of the HR Council for the Greater Northeast Florida Chapter, Associated Builders and Contractors. He is also a current member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the Florida, Texas and Jacksonville Bar Associations.
Media
Social Media in Employment, Action News CBS Channel 47 and Fox Channel 30
Media Interview on Behalf of Client, Trey Clark
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Human Resources Help for Florida Employers
Mr. Gerlach also regularly advises small, medium and large employers around the United States on day-to-day employee discipline, discharge and compensation issues and on implementing “HR Best Practices.” Mr. Gerlach also implements and administers employee mandatory arbitration contracts and company alternative dispute resolution programs.
Prior to forming Gerlach Employment Law, Mr. Gerlach practiced with Bruckner & Sykes, LLP, in Houston, Texas. When he re-located to Jacksonville, Florida, he formed Harper Gerlach, PL and later practiced with Ford Harrison, LLC.
Team Members
Zackary Ledlow
Paralegal
Zackary holds a degree in Political Science and Conflict Resolution from North Central College, and attended Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville in 2018. Prior to joining Gerlach Employment Law, Zackary worked as a paralegal and legal assistant for the Illinois law firm, Lucas, Apostolopoulos & Valenti, Ltd., which specializes in family, personal injury, probate, and criminal defense law. He also works as a veterinary technician in Jacksonville.
At GEL, Zackary continuously interacts with clients, supports all litigation, case work and client projects, works closely with GEL’s attorney, HR Consultant and Executive Coach and their staff, and conducts prospective client or new matter in-take calls and collaboratively assesses client needs and case strategies.
Zackary likes to spend time raising money for local non-profits and is a Green Bay Packers enthusiast. He is also an avid consumer of energy drinks. He loves animals and takes excellent care of his Golden Retriever, named Kona, and Shih Tzu, named Scuttle.
Christy Smith
Staff Accountant/Office Manager
Christy brings over 15 years of accounting experience to her role at Gerlach Employment Law. She has worked in accounting roles for industries such as construction, property management, and law.
Christy briefly stepped outside of an administrative capacity and successfully owned 2 businesses, a carpentry company, and a gym. She specializes in small business accounting set up and job costing accounting.
Raised in Southwest Florida, Christy is new to Jacksonville. She has two adult children and two grandchildren. She married the love of her life in October of 2022. Together they have 16 grandchildren.
When she is not working, you can find Christy creating custom tumblers, joyriding in her Jeep at the beach, or playing with her two dogs, Bentley, an English Bulldog, and Bailey, a Puggle.
Alanna Salussolia
Marketing Manager
Alanna received a bachelor’s degree in English from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. She also took graduate level courses on Texts & Technology at the University of Central Florida.
For many years Alanna worked for marketing agencies, including LaunchThat and Web.com, as a content creator and SEO specialist. She wrote long-form content, product descriptions, social posts and advertising copy for legal, medical, retail, and financial websites.
She relocated to Jacksonville from Orlando and has a food blog, ReviewJax.com, where she describes restaurants, activities and Yelp events. She is slowly working on a novel and writes poetry as well. She is a volunteer presenter for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Her family of five includes her husband, child, and two dogs. GusGus, is a chiweenie, Sadie is a Ratchi, and Lucy is a toddler.
Employment Advocacy Group (EAG) Members
With employment law, HR consulting, and business coaching, the Employment Advocacy Group (EAG) provides companies with a multi-dimensional approach for resolving employee conflicts.
Chad Sorenson
HR Consultant
Chad Sorenson is the President and Founder of Adaptive HR Solutions and has over 25 years of diverse business, communications and human resource experience.
He works with companies across the state that range from 5 to 1,200 employees and focuses on leadership development, manager training, employee performance management and employer compliance in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, construction trades, and professional services organizations. Prior to founding Adaptive HR Solutions in 2008, Chad has been Vice President, Director and Manager of Human Resources for several companies in the Jacksonville area.
He is certified as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional and a Senior Professional in Human Resources. Chad serves the 2023 Immediate Past President for the HR Florida State Council. He was also the President of SHRM Jacksonville in 2015 and 2016. Chad regularly speaks to other SHRM Chapters, business associations, and companies across the state on topics such as leadership development and employee engagement.
In addition to giving back to the HR field, Chad is actively involved in his church and has been a volunteer leader with Boy Scouts for over 10 years. He is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. The keys to his success are Devotion to God, Dedication to Family, Continuous Service, Lifetime Learning, and Always Remembering to Laugh.
Certifications
He is certified as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional and a Senior Professional in Human Resources.
Presentation Topics
Chad does presentations and training sessions for small to mid-sized businesses as well as HR and Trade Associations:
- Hiring & Interviewing Skills
- Conducting Bulletproof Internal Investigations
- Dealing with the Hazy Issue of Marijuana in the Workplace
- FMLA for Supervisors
- De-escalation Training
Memberships
Chad serves on the Executive Committee for the HR Florida State Council as the Treasurer, which represents over 14,000 HR professional statewide. He is also the Immediate Past President of SHRM Jacksonville having served as President for 2015 and 2016. Chad regularly speaks to HR organizations, business associations, and companies across the state and around the region on topics such as leadership development, employee engagement, small business HR needs, and other HR and business-related topics.
Doug Wilder
Executive Coach
Doug Wilder, the President and founder of Wilder Business Success, Inc., works with CEO’s Managers and HR Directors who are receiving complaints about a high-performing executive who has become high-maintenance or just drifting. For the 170 + executives, employees, and partners Doug’s been asked to coach and groom for long-term success, 88% were ultimately coachable because they grabbed hold of Doug’s Lifeline for Leaders, stayed with the Company, and returned to being the highly productive contributors they once had been. A win-win for all involved!
The fastest growing segment of Doug’s business has resulted from his early-on appreciation for the magnitude and power of the #Me-Too (and similar) movements. This is because, even though an employer may handle and internal sexual or other type of harassment complaint precisely by the book, the old book never had a chapter about how relationships were and remain damaged after the specific harassment has been removed.
Here, Doug typically enters the tumult after the investigation has been conducted and disciplinary action taken, and then works with those employees who were involved. both directly and indirectly, with the harassment situation in order to help restore trust, feelings of safety and collegial team work. This new and now essential chapter of post-conflict workplace repair and return to wellness has been sorely neglected and, without the proper attention to the affected employee relationships, can make an disharmonious situation entirely poisonous throughout a department or company.
In Doug’s 24 years of coaching, he has gained a well deserved reputation as being the coach’s coach. Doug formed the First Coast Coaches Association, now called Coach Jacksonville, an association of business, executive, and life coaches where Jacksonville’s experienced coaches mentor those entering the world of coaching.
Community Involvement
Doug dedicates hours of his time to local organization to help build leaders and be active in the community:
- JAX Chamber
- Trustee Connection
- Downtown Council
- Transportation and Logistics Council
- IT CouncilJacksonville Business Professionals
- jaxbridges
- Small Business Resource Network
- Jacksonville Bar Association
- Jacksonville Lawyers Roundtable