Labor & Employment

Comprising more than 150 attorneys, Lewis Brisbois' Labor & Employment Practice represents clients in all phases and types of employment litigation, counseling, training and collective bargaining. Our team of employment professionals is spread throughout our locations across the United States and provides clients with sound counsel in dozens of jurisdictions. Our size and geographic coverage allows us to provide our employment clients with consistent representation throughout the nation.

While the bulk of our time is spent defending employers in litigation, from a general philosophical standpoint, our team focuses on preventing litigation and reducing exposure to our clients. However, while sound policies, training, and self-auditing generally prevent significant problems, sometimes employment litigation is inevitable. In those instances, due to the sensitive and volatile nature of employment litigation, our attorneys formulate early and aggressive strategies to resolve matters. When early resolution is impossible, impractical or undesirable, we try cases. Every year, our Labor & Employment Practice tries many lawsuits, and participates in many more arbitrations and administrative hearing proceedings.

One of the keys to our success is highly coordinated communication with our clients (the offices of General Counsel, Management, and Human Resources), as well as their insurers, consultants and experts. We recognize the vital importance of maintaining a constant avenue of communication with the client, including developments during litigation as well as changes in the law which could affect our clients’ businesses. Toward that end, we provide all clients with litigation plans, budgets, and frequent updates with respect to the state of employment law in the various jurisdictions.

We have extensive experience in handling state and federal litigation from commencement of the action through appeal. Our attorneys practice before all courts and administrative bodies, addressing all disputes from the simplest unemployment claim to complex appellate matters. That representation includes matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (and its state equivalents), Workers’ Compensation Appeals Boards, unemployment agencies, OSHA (and its state equivalents), the National Labor Relations Board, state departments of labor, and other government agencies concerned with employment law and regulations. We have specific experience in the following areas:

Affirmative Action Compliance
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including Title I - Employment, Title II - Public Services, and Title III - Public Accommodations
Discrimination and Harassment, including Age, Race, Disability, Gender, Religion, National Origin, Citizenship, Military Service, Pregnancy, and Sexual Orientation
Employee Benefits and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Similar State Laws
Federal Civil Rights Acts (e.g., Title VII, Title IX, 42 USC 1983, and Similar State Laws)
Non-competition and Non-Solicitation Covenants and Trade Secret Protections
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Preventative Measures, including Training, Policy Review, and Employee Handbooks
Privacy, Defamation and Tortious Interference
State and Federal Wage and Hour Disputes (FLSA), including Representation During Audits and Hearings Before the Department of Labor and Defense of Wage and Hour Class Actions
Substance Abuse and Drug Testing
Unemployment/Social Security
Workers’ Compensation
Wrongful Termination and Retaliatory Discharge

In order to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving field of employment law and the deluge of employee claims of unlawful conduct in the workplace, our attorneys serve as Judge Pro Tem, Discovery Commissioners, Mediators, Settlement Officers, Arbitrators, National Director of the DRI, and other appointed positions. We also boast several members of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Our attorneys have been recognized in the legal community as “Super Lawyers” (top 5% of lawyers), BTI “All Star” (114 attorneys chosen by Fortune 1000 companies), AV rated by peers, clients and the court system (highest Martindale Hubbell rating), and Masters of the American Inns of Court.

These accolades are only meaningful when translated into success for our clients. Toward that end, we focus on:

Early resolution;
Focused and aggressive dispositive motions;
Resolution well below settlement authority;
Alternative dispute resolution; and, when relevant,
Defeating class certification
If necessary, trial results
When desired by our clients, we aggressively pursue alternative dispute resolution through mediation and less formal settlement devices. Over the past two years, we have resolved over 90 percent of our cases below settlement authority.

Our employment attorneys also provide advice and consultation to employers on a wide variety of matters, including proper termination procedures, resolution of employee disputes, implementation of work place policies including, privacy and monitoring concerns, and drafting of employee handbooks and policies.

Related Practices

Often, our clients’ business needs require legal services in areas related to labor and employment. Due to the nature of our practice groups, our firm meets the needs of our clients by pairing groups to handle cross-over situations. This pairing of related practices ensures that the client receives the most skilled attorneys in each area implicated by the individual legal issue. The following is a list of practice areas which commonly are called upon to pair with the Labor & Employment Practice department:

Wage & Hour Class Action
Commercial Litigation
Corporate Litigation
Entertainment
Intellectual Property

Clients

Representative clients range from Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups and public entities. We represent public school districts, private educational institutions, universities, healthcare companies, major franchises/franchisees, hospitality entities, restaurants, retail operations, small businesses, construction companies and many other industries and business entities.

Chairs

Labor & Employment