Teri Wilford Wood

Teri Wilford Wood is of counsel in the New York City office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice focuses on representing employers in global workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling.

At Jackson Lewis, Teri focuses primarily on international employment issues, corporate governance and investigations, workplace training and restrictive covenants worldwide. 

Previously, Teri was chief global labor and employment counsel advising Fortune 100 technology and financial services corporations worldwide. In this role, Teri served as associate general counsel of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) for most of her two-plus decade IBM career. In this position and previously as managing counsel of American Express Company, she had responsibility for employment, labor, immigration, pension, benefits and executive compensation law.

Teri has also served as a member of IBM’s retirement plans Investment Committee, served as legal counsel to the plans fiduciary committee and was co-chair of the Law Department Education Committee. While at American Express Company, Teri served on the Supervisory Committee of the Federal Credit Union and acted as its General Counsel.

Prior to her time as in-house counsel, Teri was an administrative judge for the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and, earlier was an associate at a national law firm, both based in New York City.

Teri has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Greater New York Chapter, and is a past president of the Association’s New York Chapter and chair of its Employment Law Committee. She has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Washburn University School of Law and is currently a member of the law school’s Transactional Law Center. In addition to membership in the Association of Corporate Counsel, Teri co-founded the Westchester-Fairfield Counsel Roundtable and has served as co-chair of the ACC Westchester-Fairfield Employment Law Committee. 

Teri is a frequent speaker for both domestic and international programs including, Practicing Law Institute, American Employment Law Council, Chief Litigation Officers Summit, Center for International Studies (Salzburg, Austria), NYU Labor Law Center, Fordham Law School, ALI-ABA Wage and Hour Seminars, HR Conference Board, Association of Corporate Counsel and L&E Global. 

Honors and Recognitions

• Association of Corporate Counsel, Greater New York Chapter, Distinguished Service Award (2000) 
• Doctor of Laws, Honorary Degree, Washburn University School of Law (2019)
• Martindale-Hubbell®, "AV Preeminent® - Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence" (1995-present)

Pro Bono and Community Involvement

• Lupus Research Alliance, Executive Leadership Council
• Pro Bono Partnership, Pro Bono Attorney
• TrustLaw, Pro Bono Coordinator

Published Works

• "Supporting Attorney Well-Being in a World of Unprecedented Challenges,” PLI Current (March 2021)
• “Why Am I Not Seeing This Ad? Age Discrimination in the Digital Era,” PLI Annual Employment Law Institute (October 2019) [co-author]
• “Making a Difference With Pro Bono Board Service,” LinkedIn (February 2016)

Speeches

• "Maintaining a Healthy and Productive Work Environment During Covid-19," New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting (January 2021) (speaker)
• "Understanding and Addressing Attorney Impairment and Mental Well-Being," Employment Law Institute 2020, Practising Law Institute (October 2020) (panelist)
• "Generational Bias: A New Wave,” Employment Law Institute 2019, Practising Law Institute (New York, NY, October 2019) (panelist)
• Graduation Speaker at Washburn University School of Law (Topeka, Kansas, May, 2019)
• “Benefits and Risks of Social Media in the Workplace,” Employment Law Institute 2018, Practising Law Institute (New York, NY, October 2018) (panelist)
• "Trends in Non-compete Agreements and Other Restrictive Covenants,” Chief Litigation Officer Summit (Orlando, FL, September 2018) (presenter)
• “Reviewing Performance Without “Performance Reviews,” Labor and Employment Law Future Forum, The Conference Board (New York, NY, October 2017) (presenter)