Ohio Northern University will observe Constitution Day with a presentation from prominent labor and employment attorney Gary Lofland in the Pettit College of Law’s Celebrezze Moot Court Room on Thursday, Sept. 25, at noon. The event is free and open to the public.
 
In his presentation, “Making Constitutional Law Today,” Lofland, a 1975 graduate of the Pettit College of Law, will discuss how issues of constitutional importance have arisen in litigation he has undertaken on behalf of his clients in Washington and other states. He will discuss the successful challenge he raised for his client, the Noel Corporation, to the authority of the National Labor Relations Board. In one of this year’s leading decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the President violated the Constitution’s recess appointments clause in filling vacancies on the Board. As a result, the Court overturned a decision of the Board adverse to Noel Corporation.  
 
Lofland also will discuss the case of Western States Paving v. WSDOT, 407 F3d. 991 (9th Cir, 2005), and a pending case of MWHC v. Montana Department of Transportation. In both, equal protection challenges were raised to the state’s use of race- and gender-based preferences in highway construction contracts.
 
Lofland is one of the most prominent labor and employment attorneys in central Washington. He has combined his practice with Halverson Northwest Law Group, PC.  Since starting his career in 1975, Lofland has built a reputation representing private profit and non-profit employers in labor and employment matters by providing advice, consultation, and litigation services.  He has experience in defending a wide variety of cases including wrongful discharge, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, breach of contract, non-competition, Family Medical leave Act, ERISA and prevailing wage claims.  He also represents employers in matters involving unions under the Taft Hartley Act.  He has been named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in America by the Labor Relations Institute, a Washington Super Lawyer by Thomas-Reuters, one of the Best Lawyers in the United States by U.S. News and World Report, and was honored by Who’s Who Among Executive and Professionals by the Biltmore Group.  
The presentation is held in accordance with a federal mandate passed in 2004, which stipulates that every school and college that receives federal money must teach about the Constitution on or near the date of Sept. 17, the day the document was adopted in 1787.