Overview
Susan Elgin represents businesses in employment litigation and counsels on employment law. Susan defends employers before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, minimum wage and overtime violations, and leave and disability law cases. She works on single-plaintiff cases and complex class and collective matters. Susan also advises on and litigates noncompetition and other post-separation restrictive covenants.
Employment Law Strategy
Susan partners with management, in-house counsel and human resources professionals to create practical and effective strategies for resolving employment issues, implementing best practices and minimizing risk. She offers guidance on workplace issues, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Media Law and Access
As a former journalist, Susan particularly enjoys representing communications and media clients. She has defended libel suits, obtained media access to court proceedings, and counseled publishers on open records requests. In addition, she regularly provides pre-publication advice. Susan currently serves as the Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Media, Privacy, and Advertising Law Committee, and she edits the Iowa state law section of the Media Law Resource Center’s 50-state survey, as well as the Eighth Circuit section of the Reporter’s Privilege and Open Courts Compendiums for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Past Experience
Before joining Faegre Drinker, Susan worked as an attorney at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a bureau within the U.S. Treasury Department, in Washington, D.C., where she advised national bank examiners on the supervision of problem institutions and closure of national banks.
Related Services
Credentials
Bar Admissions
Iowa
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
Clerkships
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Hon. Michael J. Melloy, 2013-2014
Education
University of Iowa College of Law
J.D. with high distinction, Iowa Law Review (senior note and comment editor) (2013)
University of Iowa
B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication, with high distinction (2008)
Insights & Events
Insights
Other Perspectives
- Media Law Resource Center
Co-author of Iowa law outlines published annually on media privacy and related claims against the media - What Happens in Iowa Stays in Iowa: A Framework for Implementing Changes to State Open Records Laws
98 Iowa L. Rev. 1677, 2013
Leadership & Community
Professional Associations
- The Iowa State Bar Association — Federal Practice Committee
- American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice - Vice Chair of Media, Privacy, & Advertising Law Committee
Firm Leadership
- Associates Committee
- Faegre Baker Daniels Women’s Forum for Achievement — Leadership Council
Honors
- Chambers USA — Iowa, Labor & Employment, "Attorneys to Watch," 2022-23
- Best Lawyers®— "Ones to Watch," Communications Law 2021-24; "Ones to Watch," Labor and Employment Law - Management, 2023-24; "Ones to Watch," Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2021-24
- Faegre Drinker — Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2022
- Faegre Baker Daniels — Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2017-18
- University of Iowa College of Law — National Association of Women Lawyers Award
- University of Iowa — Phi Beta Kappa and Kappa Tau Alpha
- Great Plains Super Lawyers — Rising Stars, Employment Litigation: Defense, 2018-22
No aspect of these recognitions has been approved by the highest court of any state.