Edgar Ndjatou
Edgar has been making a lot of news since becoming an official associate in June 2010. 

He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in June 2010 and to the D.C. Bar in June 2011.  In February 2011 he became a member of the bar of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

He is a member of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association and is a member of MWELA’s Board of Directors.  He serves as a Co-Chair of both the Membership and New Lawyers Committees. 

A member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), in June Edgar attended the 2011 NELA convention in New Orleans.

Alan Banov
Alan also attended the NELA convention in New Orleans and is still a member of MWELA’s Board.
In October 2011 he was again appointed to the D.C. Superior Court Task Force on Jury Instructions.  Several years ago he helped contribute to the Task Force’s model jury instructions for various D.C. Human Rights Act cases.

In October 2011 Alan participated with other NELA lawyers in talking with U.S. Senators about the Arbitration Fairness Act, to end compulsory arbitration of employment and consumer disputes.  For information about the bill, see:
http://www.nela.org/temp/ts_46BDD3A2-BDB9-50CE-FB64A20D81A185B746BDD3B1-BDB9-50CE-F5812CD2BA38BDF9/NELAAFAStatementSenateHearing10132011.pdf

NELA is also encouraging Congress to pass the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act, to eliminate taxation of claimants’ compensatory damages awards or settlements and to permit income averaging when they receive large back pay awards. 

Alan is still rated A.V. by Martindale-Hubbell, and has now been rated “A.V. Preeminent.”  Martindale describes the rating as follows:  “*The AV® Preeminent Rating™ is the pinnacle of professional excellence earned through a strenuous Peer Review Rating process that is managed and monitored by the world’s most trusted legal resource: Martindale-Hubbell®”

He continues to mediate cases for the Superior Court and the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights.

Mr. Banov’s Democratic Party Activities
In September 2010 Mr. Banov was re-elected to the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee as an at-large member.  In September 2010 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Maryland Democratic Party.

His contacts with elected officials in the County and State have proven helpful in his efforts to promote legislation which helps employees. For example, he has asked Maryland legislators to change the Maryland law which limits what attorneys can charge claimants in unemployment appeals, Md. Ann. Code, Labor and Employment, Sec. 8-507(b). By regulation, the limit was only $100, but Alan was able to convince State Senator Jamie Raskin that this rule harmed employees who are claimants in unemployment cases, and Sen. Raskin convinced the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to increase the fees to twice the claimant’s weekly benefit.  At present this is about $800.