Our Attorneys

Stephanie Spanja has represented labor unions and their members since 2004. Prior to joining the firm as an associate in 2021, Ms. Spanja was an associate at a union-side law firm in Dayton, Ohio. There, she negotiated collective bargaining agreements, conducted arbitrations, litigated in federal and state courts, and represented unions before the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board. Ms. Spanja previously worked on the staff of the University of Cincinnati Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, where she served as chief negotiator, handled grievances, and administered the collective bargaining agreements. Ms. Spanja also served as a staff attorney for the Airline Professionals Association, an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local representing airline cargo pilots.

Ms. Spanja received her B.A. from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, in 1989 and an M.A. in English from the University of California, Davis, in 1992. During graduate school, Ms. Spanja worked on the United Auto Workers’ campaign to organize teaching and research assistants at the University of California. Ms. Spanja received her J.D. from Fordham University in 1999, where she served as an Associate Editor of the Fordham Urban Law Journal, volunteered on behalf of the Unemployment Action Center and received the Addison R. Metcalf Labor Law Award.

In addition, in 2021, Ms. Spanja earned the designation of Certified Employee Benefits Specialist through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Spanja is admitted to practice in New York and Ohio as well as  several federal  Appellate and District Courts.  Her application for admission to the bar of the District of Columbia is pending, and she works under the supervision of one or more members of the D.C. Bar.