Elena is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. She is based in our Saint Paul office and is a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section. Elena practices primarily in the areas of:

* Employment law counseling

* Employment law mediation

* Employment law training

* School law

* Business-related immigration law

She regularly counsels employers on discipline and discharge issues, litigation prevention. Elena has also traveled the country conducting training sessions on a variety of employment law subjects, including sexual harassment awareness and prevention, drug and alcohol testing, litigation prevention and other employment law issues. These training seminars are interactive workshops, including case studies of real-life situations where attendees apply the knowledge and skills they learn to manage difficult situations.

Elena frequently represents employers in responding to charges of discrimination before local state and federal human rights agencies. She also regularly assists employers in unemployment compensation cases, and is a qualified neutral under Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice.

A frequent lecturer at seminars for attorneys and non-attorneys on a variety of employment law topics, Elena has also authored dozens of articles and publications relating to employment law, immigration law and school law. She chaired the firm's employment law counseling practice for three years and has served on the firm's Ethics Committee and Human Resources Committee.

Elena is a member of the Ramsey County, Minnesota State and American Bar Associations and a former Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of Minnesota Women Lawyers. She is admitted to practice before the Minnesota Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Among her outside activities, Elena is past chair of the Board of Directors and a member of the Executive Committee of Family Service, Inc., a nonprofit social service agency. She is also a member of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Twin Cities Committee on Minority Lawyers in Large Law Firms, American Immigration Lawyers Association, University of Minnesota Alumni Association, St. Paul Jaycees, Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, and International Institute of Minnesota.

Elena is the 2000 Co-Chair of the Ramsey County Bar Association's Diversity Committee. In 1998 she was reappointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court to another three--year term on the Committee for the Implementation of Multicultural Diversity and Racial Fairness in the Courts. She was also appointed to the Diversity Issues Committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

Elena speaks fluent Spanish. She received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota, where she was a member of the Dean's List and the Golden Key National Honor Society. Elena received her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, was selected for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Team, and became a Program Director. She also was named to the Dean's List and received Legal Writing Honors in law school. Elena has been listed in Who's Who Among Young American Professionals, Who's Who Among American Women and Who's Who in American Law. She joined Briggs and Morgan in 1986.