Newly-named Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer honors founder, leadership change and 30 years in Detroit as a premier management side labor and employment boutique law firm
Detroit – November 3, 2022 – Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer PC is the new name of the Detroit-based management side labor and employment law firm formerly known as Nemeth Law, P.C. The firm is dedicated solely to working with employers to prevent, resolve, and litigate labor and employment disputes. The name change was announced by Managing Partner and firm co-owner, Deborah Brouwer, and is effective immediately.
The firm was founded 30 years ago by Patricia Nemeth as the Law Offices of Patricia Nemeth. In January 2020, the firm was purchased from Nemeth by her firm partners Terry Bonnette and Deborah Brouwer. Ms. Nemeth remains of counsel to the firm. Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer reflects the ownership change while honoring Nemeth’s legal achievements and stellar reputation as a labor and employment attorney as well as mediator and arbitrator.
“Our name has changed, but our commitment to providing high quality legal services to our clients with integrity and trustworthiness is foundational - and as strong as ever,” Brouwer said.
Bonnette and Brouwer are leading attorneys in their own right, each having received numerous accolades and awards from the local and national legal community and respected for their practical and sage approach to workplace issues, particularly as the employer/employee relationship continues to rapidly evolve.
Brouwer’s labor and employment practice includes the defense of lawsuits involving claims of race, age, religion, national origin, gender and disability discrimination, and harassment and retaliation, as well as FLSA, FMLA and non-competition suits. She also provides employer training and conducts discrimination and harassment investigations on behalf of employers. Brouwer has extensive experience appearing before administrative agencies, including the EEOC, MDCR, MIOSHA, OSHA and the NLRB, and also appears frequently before the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
An engaged leader in the legal and non-profit communities, Brouwer is Immediate Past President of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel; Member, State Bar of Michigan Appellate Section and Labor and Employment Law Section; Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America; Member, American Bar Association, Litigation Section; Member, DRI; Chair of the Board of Directors of Assured Family Services; and Chair, Board of Trustees, Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation. She holds a Juris Doctor from the Wayne State University School of Law and both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Michigan.
Brouwer has received many honors in the legal field, including multiple Michigan Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyer and Best Lawyers in America listings, and Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in Law 2019. She was named a 2020 Go-To-Lawyer in Business Law and a 2018 Woman in the Law honoree by the legal trade publication, Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Bonnette joined the firm in 2004 after serving as a law clerk for the firm. A successful litigator, he is also known as an educator – keeping clients informed on developments and trends in employment law that help them create and sustain a workplace of choice. To that end, he created the firm’s Raising the Bar more than a decade ago - an educational series focused on increasing employer awareness of trending issues in employment law. He is also regularly sought out by clients for day-to-day legal counseling on hiring and firing decisions, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, disability and leave issues, and, during the throes of the pandemic, a variety of questions including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). He also presents training programs for supervisors and executives on hot-button issues, as well as the nuts and bolts of Human Resources.
Bonnette started his professional life as a speech and forensics coach at Bradley University, where he was on the speech and forensics team as an undergrad. He also coached at Illinois State University while in graduate school, and at Eastern Michigan University, where he coached for seven years and served as an adjunct faculty member. In all, Bonnette coached 44 individual national champions during his forensics coaching career. Bonnette currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board for Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit.
In 2021, Bonnette was named a Go-To-Lawyer in Employment Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. He has also been named a Leading Lawyer and Michigan Super Lawyer. He is a Sustaining Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation, and a Planning Committee member for the Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s (ICLE) annual Labor and Employment Law Institute. Bonnette holds a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University School of Law, a Master of Science in Organizational Communication and Rhetoric from Illinois State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Bradley University.
About Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer PC Celebrating 30 years in 2022, Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer specializes in employment litigation, traditional labor law, workplace investigations, and management consultation and training for private and public sector employers. The firm also provides arbitration and mediation services. Woman-owned and led since its founding, Nemeth Bonnette Brouwer exclusively represents management in the prevention, resolution and litigation of labor and employment disputes.
