Employment Litigation

For decades, we have led our clients through numerous cases of high importance and exposure.  Recently, we helped navigate successful outcomes for our clients involved in wage and hour class actions in the hospitality and service industries, with potential exposure in the millions of dollars. We routinely represent employers, from Fortune 500 to small-to-midsize, in employment discrimination and retaliation claims in federal and state courts nationwide where the potential exposure to the clients is in excess of a million dollars. In some cases, we are able to achieve outright dismissals of the claims through litigation, while in others, the claims have been withdrawn. In still other matters, we have represented clients on appeal; in one matter, our lawyers assisted a client in reversing on appeal a wrongful termination verdict in excess of $10 million.

We are not strangers to handling the particular challenges of high profile cases -- matters that draw the attention of the media and the public. Part of this experience comes from our representation of public agencies and the attendant media interest associated with claims against those agencies, but we have also been involved in matters where employees have raised claims of public concern such as whistleblower and free speech claims. While we are highly capable of handling large complex cases, we bring the same level of attention to detail and professionalism to all of our cases, no matter the size.  Our approach is to foster a partnership with our clients so that we can control both the tangible and intangible costs of litigation.

With the cooperation and assistance of our firm's employee benefits and intellectual property lawyers, we have successfully litigated a variety of ERISA, non-compete and trade secrets cases. For example, we recently achieved a dismissal of a breach of fiduciary duty claim against an employer in federal court at an early stage.

Indeed, our goals in representing clients are two-fold: First, we try to resolve contested cases as early in the process as possible, in order to minimize the costs and risks associated with protracted litigation. Where that is not possible, we bring a deliberate, thoughtful and tenacious approach to representing clients that balances the costs of litigation with the needs of the case. Our approach to employment litigation involves providing our clients with: 

• Early assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the case 
• A projected timetable, cost estimate, and exposure to damages 
• Review of available alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures 
• A cost benefit analysis of each significant litigation decision
• The ability, willingness and experience to pursue the case through trial and related appeals