Suzanne M. Cerra has devoted her legal career to representing and counseling private and public sector employers in all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful termination matters. She also has extensive experience in matters involving the enforcement of restrictive covenants and the protection of trade secrets and confidential information. Ms. Cerra has represented hundreds of clients in state and federal court proceedings and before administrative agencies such as the EEOC, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and the New York Human Rights Division. She also has extensive experience providing compliance counseling to her clients regarding all state and federal employment laws and assisting clients with issues relating to discrimination, harassment, leaves of absence, wrongful discharge, wage and hour laws, restrictive covenants and unfair competition. Because her primary goal is to help her clients avoid litigation, Ms. Cerra devotes a significant portion of her practice to preventative counseling, designing effective personnel policies, auditing employment practices, and conducting on-site training programs on legal issues affecting the workplace. Ms. Cerra is called upon regularly by her peers to conduct internal investigations into claims of unlawful harassment, discrimination and other allegations of workplace misconduct.

Executive Committee, Labor and Employment Law Section of the New Jersey Bar Association (2003 – Present)

Chief Operations Officer, New Jersey Women Lawyers' Association (June 2008 – Present)

Board of Directors, Entrepreneur's Organization, New Jersey Chapter (March 2009 – Present)

Member, Editorial Board of the New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly (2003 – Present)

Sidney Reitman Employment Law Inn of Court (Past Member)

Listed in Super Lawyers, Employment & Labor (2009, 2010)
    Top 50 female attorneys in New Jersey (2010)
    Top 100 attorneys in New Jersey (2010)

Listed in Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Law Firms, Labor & Employment (2010)

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, New Jersey Finalist (June 2009)

Honored by U.S. Small Business Administration as New Jersey Women in Business Champion of the Year (2009)

AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Conducting Effective Workplace Investigations, presented to ASIS International, New Jersey Chapter (June 8, 2010)

How Social Media and Networking Websites and Technology Are Changing the Employment Landscape, presented at the New Jersey State Bar Association's Annual Meeting, Labor & Employment Section (May 21, 2010)

The Costliest Employment Mistakes: What you must do to protect your business, Home Health Services Association of New Jersey (March 3, 2010)

The Costliest Mistakes Made by Employers: What you have todo to protect your business, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (November 23, 2009)

Hot Topics in Employment Law, Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, P.C. Client Briefing (October 22, 2008)

Hot Tips in Labor & Employment Law, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (June 11, 2008)

10 Most Common Mistakes Employers Make and How to Avoid Them, presented by the Women Presidents' Organization (October 2007)

Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law, presented by the New Jersey Women Lawyers' Association, Seton Hall University Law School (March 22, 2007)

Investigating Sexual Harassment Complaints, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (February 3, 2007 and October 10, 2006)

Labor & Employment Law Summer Institute, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (July 19, 2006)

Mediation for Employment Lawyers, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (May 24, 2005)

Post Employment Agreements and Restrictions, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, September 22, 2004

Confidentiality and Noncompete Agreements, presented by the Essex County Bar Association (April 20, 2004)

Selecting and Terminating Employees in New Jersey, presented by the National Business Institute (“NBI”) (October 23, 2003)

What's New: Medical Privacy Rules Under HIPAA, Stanton, Hughes, Diana, Cerra, Mariani & Margello, P.C. Client Briefing (June 18, 2003)

Employment Law 101: Confidentiality and Noncompete Agreements, presented by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (February 6, 2003)

Family and Medical Leave Act in New Jersey, presented by Lorman Education Services (October 13, 2000)

Employment and Labor Law in New Jersey: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, presented by Lorman Education Services (September 13, 2000)

COBRA Subsidies Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: How Will They Impact Businesses?, New Jersey Defense (Volume 25, Issue 2; Spring 2009) , co-authored with Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Esq.

We Can Have it All, New Jersey Women Lawyers' Association Gala Journal (April 2009), co-authored with Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Esq.

Elements of an Effective Harassment Investigation, New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly (Winter 2007)

Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, P.C., Short Hills, NJ
    Founder and Principal (January 2006 – Present)
Law Office of Suzanne M. Cerra, Basking Ridge, NJ
    Founder and Principal (October 2003 – January 2006)
Stanton, Hughes, Diana, Cerra, Mariani & Margello, P.C., Morristown, NJ
    (now Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stuart)
    Partner (April 1997 – October 2003); Associate (September 1995 – April 1997)
Shanley & Fisher, P.C., Morristown, NJ
    Associate (September 1993 – September 1995)
Graduate, Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia Law School (1999)

Boston College Law School (J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, 1993)
Bucknell University (B.S., cum laude,1990)

State of New Jersey, 1993
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, 1993

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, “Power of the Promise” Fundraising Committee
Kevin J. Hannaford, Sr. Foundation, Committee Member

JEN Electric, Inc. v. County of Essex, -- N.J. --, 2009 WL 529154 (March 4, 2009)
Terrell v. Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., 352 N.J. Super. 109 (App. Div. 2002)
Johnson v. Penske Truck Leasing Co., 949 F. Supp. 1153 (D.N.J. 1996)
Scudder v. Media General, Inc., 1995 WL 495945 (D.N.J. 1995).