Before it was Van Dermyden Makus, our Firm was called Van Dermyden Maddux—and the history of our journey really starts there.

Senior Partner Sue Ann Van Dermyden has been engaged in employment law since 1993. After years of litigating employment cases in state and federal courts, Sue Ann founded Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation alongside then-Senior Partner Deborah Maddux.

Deborah spent years litigating cases and serving as Counsel to the University of California. She pivoted when she and Sue Ann connected. Together, they founded a Firm that focused on neutral legal services. They built a business helping employers and employees, educators and students get back to business.  Van Dermyden Maddux focused on conducting workplace investigations, Title IX campus investigations and hearings, expert witness work, workplace coaching for employees and supervisors, and conflict resolution training.

How We Developed Our Practice

That was years ago in 2010. Back then, there weren’t many firms dedicated only to the neutral work of conducting investigations. A few years prior to our founding, the law had changed, requiring employers to investigate sexual harassment claims, and eventually all harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims. This created a vast need in the market—a need we were able to serve. As a Firm, we set a standard of competence and quality for what constitutes excellence in investigations. On that reputation, the Firm became an industry leader.

Workplace investigations developed into the vibrant industry this Firm leads today because legislatures and courts recognized employers have a duty to understand, and act upon, employee complaints of mistreatment. In turn, employers came to recognize the benefit of conducting thorough, unbiased investigations early in the lifespan of an employment dispute so they can make better decisions to protect their employees and their businesses. Through this work, employees who face discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other misconduct have a fair, neutral forum in which to raise and address their concerns.

For more than a decade, the Firm has been a change agent by giving employers and educators a tool to ensure its employees and students have a safe and happy workplace or school environment. We accomplish this by delivering excellence in neutral legal services. This work has been focused on conducting independent workplace investigations, but also involves other neutral services, including campus investigations, hearings, mediation and conflict resolution. As our mission states, the Firm is “dedicated to giving employees, employers, students and educators critical tools to navigate turbulent seas and get back to work.”

Our Firm Today

Sue Ann and Deborah, through Van Dermyden Maddux, have been focused on this mission since they started the Firm. As they considered a succession plan that would allow Deborah to step down from her day-to-day role as Senior Managing Partner, they looked for someone who shared their passion and vision for this important work. 

In 2021, Sue Ann and Deborah were thrilled to welcome Eli Makus as a Shareholder and the Managing Partner, to succeed Deborah. Like his predecessor, Eli was an early innovator in the workplace investigations industry. His broad experience began as an employment law litigator.  From there, he moved in-house to a large healthcare employer where he acted as legal counsel. This background gives him a unique perspective on how to help employers and employees resolve employment disputes.

Through his legal practice and volunteer activities, Eli has been dedicated to this work for more than a decade.  As the Firm looked to develop a succession plan for its future growth, he was a natural fit.  He shared a common vision and passion with the Firm’s founders. Eli’s arrival ensures a continuity of vision between the past and the future for the important work in which the Firm is a leader.

Despite changes in our leadership, our mission remains the same. Van Dermyden Makus is still committed to growing right alongside the world of investigative law by providing unbiased, third party investigation and hearing services. We believe that by delivering excellent neutral legal services we help employers, employees, educators, and students resolve disputes, make better decisions, and get back to work.