Monica Andress

Associate

Monica.Andress@lewisbrisbois.com

Monica Andress is an associate in the Akron office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Labor & Employment, Commercial Litigation, Corporate, and Healthcare practices. Monica is a full-service employment attorney with experience advocating for the best interests of entities of all sizes and across various industries, advising the same on a broad spectrum of issues including, without limitation: wage and hour compliance; policy construction, analysis, and implementation; contractual negotiations and dispute resolution; and highly complex, sensitive workplace investigations.

She is an experienced advocate in matters of workplace discrimination as well as other matters related to both federal and state equal opportunity compliance, and has helped facilitate positive outcomes for employers nationwide — namely, in dispute resolution efforts before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and American Arbitration Association (AAA) as well as in federal and state courts.

Monica is also an experienced healthcare regulatory attorney with a demonstrated skillset navigating issues involving federal fraud and abuse (Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and False Claims Act), records and privacy compliance (HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2), federal accreditation and auditing protocols, licensure, corporate practice considerations, incident and major unusual incident reporting protocols, disruptive patient behavior, as well as patient rights and grievances.

She has a specialized interest in the complex legal and regulatory landscape of behavioral health law for individual, small, and mid-sized mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) service providers as well as recovery houses. In this area, Monica is knowledgeable about federal and Ohio state legislation and regulation and experienced in navigating: licensure and certification processes; policy construction, analysis, and compliance; as well as providing technical assistance to state and local providers and advocates.

In her free time, Monica serves on several non-profit boards in the Greater Akron area including the University of Akron Law Alumni Association, Townhall II, Torchbearers, as well as the Oriana House Advisory Committee, and further serves as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for CASA/ GAL Program of Summit County, Ohio.

Primary Area(s) of Practice

  • Labor & Employment
  • Complex Business & Commercial Litigation
  • Corporate
  • Healthcare

Associations

  • Member | Oriana House, Inc. Advisory Committee | March 2023 – Present
  • Board Member | Akron Torchbearers, Class of 2023 | December 2022 – Present
  • Vice President & Alumna Board Member | Akron Law Alumni Association | May 2022 – Present
  • Board Member | Townhall II Board of Directors | January 2022 – Present
  • Active Member | Society for Human Resources Management | November 2021 – Present
  • CASA Volunteer | Summit County Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program | September 2021 – Present

Awards & Honors

  • Ohio Super Lawyers, “Rising Star”, 2023 & 2024
  • Greater Akron Chambers, “30 for the Future”, 2022