Meet Staffing GC.

This is our story.

Staffing firms are in the business of people, where the only constant is change. That’s where Staffing GC comes in.

After serving as trusted, executive legal advisors across the staffing industry for decades, Joanna Monroe and Lia Elliott joined forces to turn their collective experience and expertise into Staffing GC. Our firm is the first of its kind to provide staffing companies, large and small, with as-needed legal services to help them grow their businesses while reducing risk and legal expense.

How do we do it? We are able to dive right in because we are not only legal experts, but we’re also staffing experts. Our unique subscription model allows staffing firms to choose the service level that meets their needs by providing on-demand legal support at a flat rate. Our clients are equipped with game-changing access to high-value legal consulting services without incurring unexpected fees.

Predictable, cost-efficient subscription model

Legal expenses can quickly spiral out of control with ever-changing employee and staffing legislation and laws. Our tiered subscription model allows staffing firms to react quickly and cost effectively to legal issues that arise. We work together to decide on an annual budget that fits your needs, with fees starting as low as $2,500 per month. What you get is practical, expert advice and services without the surprise of unexpected legal expenses.

33%

reduction in unnecessary spend

Practical and actionable legal counsel

You won’t get jargon-filled explanations that leave you with more questions than answers. We give you practical legal advice that makes sense. We take second guessing out of the equation so you know exactly what to do next.

  • Raise your risk intelligence for peace of mind.
  • Get actionable legal advice that minimizes disruption.
  • Make the best business decisions quickly and confidently.

Experience that matters

Employee scheduling. Paid leave. Drug testing. The rules of engagement are always changing, and you need a legal team on top of it all.

Staffing GC’s experts have lived and breathed (and loved) the staffing space for 25+ years. We’ve been at this a long time, so we go from 0 to 60 in no time. We jump right in, roll up our sleeves and get to work.

25+

years of staffing industry experience

Quotemark

Tangible legal advice, predictable billing

It is impossible to keep pace with all of the changing employment laws. Partnering with Staffing GC, we implemented a compliance program to better track and implement new laws. Using their compliance risk framework, I finally feel like I have control over our employment law risks.

Human Resources Leader

in a light industrial staffing company with 5,000 temporary associates on assignment

Joanna Monroe

is a senior legal executive and C-Suite adviser with a proven track record of helping companies transform and grow profits while reducing risk. A legal and compliance expert with over 25 years of experience, Joanna is highly regarded for implementing large scale operational, compliance and legal initiatives that contributed to high-performance business results and improved the bottom line.

Joanna is passionate about providing companies with access to affordable, solutions focused advice. With 25 years in staffing, she recognized that many staffing firms need access to an experienced general counsel, but not on a full time basis, and not at a full time cost. She loves to partner with companies to help them drive down their legal expense and make risk informed decisions to move their business forward.

Prior to launching Staffing GC, Joanna served for 15 years as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at TrueBlue, Inc., a publicly traded staffing company. There, she partnered with the board of directors, C-Suite and cross-functional teams to transform Labor Ready, a $1B staffing company, into TrueBlue, a $3B international, diversified workforce solutions company with five divisions, 700 branches, 6,000 employees and 500,000 temporary workers.

Joanna led legal, compliance, enterprise risk, internal audit, social responsibility and government relations functions and implemented enterprise-wide programs that reduced risk and strengthened reputational resiliency. As an acquisition team member, Joanna evaluated and integrated 17 strategic acquisitions resulting in $1B in newly acquired revenue. Joanna was a crucial contributor to the internal merger of three divisions into PeopleReady, a $1.6B company. She also participated in numerous international expansion initiatives and advised operations on business and legal issues. As part of that, Joanna implemented compliance policies and programs across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia the United Kingdom and India.

Joanna holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Puget Sound, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University at Northridge. She resides with her family in Washington.

Lia Elliott

is an attorney and C-Suite advisor with 20+ years of boots-on-the-ground executive and legal experience in the workforce solutions and staffing industry. Lia is solutions-focused and works with clients to achieve business objectives while aligning legal compliance within risk tolerance and budget. A constant critical thinker and firm believer that “no” is seldom the answer, Lia simplifies legal complexities enabling growth in a mine-filled environment.

An accomplished executive and attorney, Lia’s diverse experience in both the practice of law and executive management offers unique value-add legal solutions to her clients.

Prior to launching Staffing GC, Lia served for 15 years as General Counsel to Elwood Staffing, one of the largest U.S. light industrial staffing and workforce solutions firms. With Elwood Staffing, Lia served on the Executive Committee and partnered with the board of directors, officers, shareholders and other cross-functional team leadership to help grow and scale Elwood Staffing from a $160MM company to a nearly $1B enterprise with more than 250 service locations, 130,000+ contingent employees assigned across more than 6,000 diverse client facilities and 1,000 internal corporate employees. Lia led legal strategy, compliance, litigation management, department operations and implemented enterprise-wide systems, solutions, procedures and programs to protect profit and reduce risk. Her C-Suite experience coupled with in-depth understanding of the staffing industry present a value adding combination to organizations.

Lia is a committed community leader in her inspirational hometown of Columbus, Indiana. She serves on the boards of Community Animal Rescue Effort, Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Visitors Center. She also volunteers as a foster and has rescued/placed hundreds of animals.

Lia holds a Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science, Business from Purdue University.

Rhea Baker-Ipek

is a senior-level attorney and organizational advisor with 8 years of in-house legal experience in the staffing industry. Rhea built an expert legal practice advising shareholders, senior leaders, and key field members how to navigate an ever-changing patchwork of federal and state compliance regimes with sensible, staffing-friendly solutions.

Operating at the intersection of staffing and compliance, Rhea partners with and arms her clients with high-value knowledge and tools to mitigate legal risk and empower decision making. Rhea is passionate about equipping clients with digestible legal knowledge to enable them to make sound compliance decisions, move business forward, and feel confident when engaging with clients of their own.

Prior to joining Staffing GC, Rhea served for 8 years as Corporate Counsel and Senior Corporate Counsel to Elwood Staffing Services, where she worked with her good friend and mentor, Lia Elliott. Rhea became a trusted and respected counselor who oversaw internal legal matters, provided legal advice to the organization’s Executive Team, Human Resources, and Field Service Operations. Rhea managed all aspects of agency claims, maintained regulatory compliance, provided expert legal guidance on employment law issues, internal policies and handbooks, contract review, accommodation requests,
wage and hour matters, and co-employment issues.

Rhea is a wine and food enthusiast, patron of the arts, frequent international traveler, and lover of all things Mediterranean. She is a mother of two wonderful boys and wife to a Turkish import all of whom reside in North Carolina.

Rhea holds a Juris Doctor from Indiana University Mauer School of Law, a Master of Business Administration in International Business from the University of Memphis, and a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages from the University of Memphis.