About Grace M. Deon
As a shareholder in Eastburn and Gray’s Litigation Department, Grace M. Deon represents companies and individuals in employment law matters, including claims brought under Title VII, Section 1981, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Protection Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination Act.
Grace has litigated cases involving the enforcement of non-competition and non-solicitation restrictive covenants, from both the employee and employer perspective, and has also defended Pennsylvania municipalities and school districts in a variety of contexts, including civil rights claims brought under Section 1983. In addition to litigating employment related claims, Grace reviews, prepares and negotiates employment agreements and severance packages, counsels employees and employers about a variety of day-to-day human resource related issues, prepares employee handbooks and workplace policies and presents employment related seminars to employees and management.
In addition to her concentration in employment law, Grace litigates commercial matters (including breach of contract, negligence and fraud) and personal injury based claims. Further, for more than a decade, Grace has represented Pennsylvania school districts in special education matters, including representation at administrative due process hearings and appeals to State and Federal Courts.
Ms. Deon is an experienced trial attorney, who has tried cases before federal and state tribunals, argued at the appellate level and appeared before a variety of administrative agencies, including the Office for Dispute Resolution, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation.
In 2002, Grace was honored as a recipient of the 2002 Best 50 Women in Business, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, in association with the Business Journals of Pennsylvania. The award recognized Grace’s professional accomplishments and personal achievements through community service in the non-profit arena.
Memberships
Grace is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Bucks County Bar Association ("BCBA"). In 2011, Ms. Deon was appointed to chair the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Legal Services for Exceptional Children Committee. She currently serves on the BCBA Board of Directors and has chaired the Bench Bar Relations and Continuing Legal Education Committees. Grace remains an active member of the BCBA's Civil Litigation and Federal Court sections and enjoys being a member of the Bucks County Inns of Court, a membership by invitation only. In addition, through the Bucks County Legal Aid Society, Grace represents women and men, on a pro bono basis, who either seek protection from domestic abuse or require a defense against such an action.
Grace has participated as a presenter at Continuing Legal Education seminars conducted by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Bucks County Bar Association and the Bucks County Inns of Court.
Bar Admission
Grace is licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey.
In addition to the U.S. Supreme Court, she is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Supreme Courts; the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third Circuit; the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania; and all U.S. District Courts for the State of New Jersey.
In 2003, Grace was approved by the judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to sit as a federal arbitrator.
Education
Grace received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from St. Joseph's University, with a minor in Philosophy, and her Juris Doctor from the Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she received recognition for Distinguished Class Performance in Trial Advocacy from the Honorable Michael Stiles, former Attorney General of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Eastburn and Gray, P.C. as a law clerk and then full time, Grace participated in internships with the Office of the U.S. Federal Defender and the Office of the Philadelphia City Solicitor.
Volunteer and Community Work
Grace, a resident of Bucks County for over thirty years, has actively participated as a board member and fundraiser for numerous non-profit agencies throughout Bucks County.
For nearly 20 years, Grace has acted as the President of the Distribution Committee for the Bucks County Foundation, a community trust of nearly $10 million that oversees grant applications and awards to a variety of charitable organizations in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Grace is also a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit Network of Victim Assistance ("NOVA"), a United Way agency. NOVA supports, counsels and empowers victims of sexual assault and other serious crimes and works to eliminate violence in Bucks County through advocacy, community education and prevention programs.
Grace has served multiple terms as a member of the Board of Directors for the following non-profit organizations: the Bucks County Historical Society ("BCHS"), VITA Educational Services/Bucks County Literacy Center and the Community Conservatory of Music. Grace and her husband co-chaired and served on the committee for the BCHS’ Savory Sampler, a black tie affair benefiting the museum’s educational programs since 1994 and they also chaired the "Crusader Ball" for the benefit of the Bucks County Unit of the American Cancer Society on multiple occasions.
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