Biography
John V. Jansonius has 39 years’ experience in labor and employment law. He focuses his practice on: contract and compensation negotiations and disputes with corporate officers and managers; defense of employment discrimination claims and wrongful discharge claims; collective bargaining, representation cases, and unfair labor practice claims under the National Labor Relations Act; denial of benefits claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act; advising on and conducting internal investigations in hand with employers, boards of directors, audit committees, and compensation committees; and advising on employment and labor aspects of business transactions. He has represented clients in numerous jury and non-jury trials in state and federal court and has presented oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal circuit courts of appeals.
John is rare among labor and employment lawyers in having experience in the board room, at the bargaining table, and in the courtroom. His experience, and his current practice, ranges from counseling boards of directors of publicly traded companies to serving as counsel to company negotiating committees in collective bargaining with labor unions. Rounding out John’s practice is regular involvement as defense counsel in employment litigation and counseling management on executive and employee relations matters and compliance with federal and state labor and employment law.
John provides additional value to clients by partnering with employers, boards of directors, and compensation committees to develop and implement tailored compliance and ethics programs that reduce risk and ensure compliance in today’s increasingly regulatory climate. John also serves as a trusted adviser to these clients in the event that they find themselves conducting, or otherwise involved in, independent or internal investigations.
Few lawyers have been as long and steadily involved in the full array of labor and employment law as it has evolved over the past generation as John, and this gives him a unique ability to counsel and defend businesses in their legal relationships with executives, salaried and hourly paid employees, and labor unions.
Education
B.A., cum laude, Drake University
J.D., SMU Dedman School of Law
Bar Admissions
Texas, 1980
Minnesota, 1981
Oklahoma, 2014
Court Admissions
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits
United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas
All courts in Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas
Board Certifications
Labor and Employment Law
Over his 38 years in practice, John has served as lead counsel in countless employment litigation cases; counsel to management on executive compensation and employee relations aspects in a wide variety of business transactions; management counsel in collective bargaining, contract administration, and unfair labor practice defense in the labor relations context; and he routinely works with corporate counsel, executive management, and human resources to resolve specific employee relations issues and to develop programs and strategies to minimize risk
Among John’s specific areas of expertise are:
- Defense of claims alleging unfair or discriminatory compensation practices
- Representation of management in union representation cases, unfair labor practice cases, and grievance arbitrations
- Counseling and representing corporations and other business entities in executive relations and the labor and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions
- Arbitration and litigation defense of employment discrimination and wrongful discharge claims
- Top 100: Texas Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2010-2011, 2013-2014, 2016
- Top 100: Dallas/Fort Worth Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2007-2017
- Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2003-2019
- Who’s Who Legal: Texas, Labor, Employment & Benefits, 2016, 2019
- Ranked for Labor & Employment – USA, Chambers Global, 2018-2020
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2002-2020
- Ranked for Employment: Mainly Defendant – Texas, 2002-2006
- Ranked for Labor & Employment – Texas, 2007-2020
- Lawyer of the Year, The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.)
- Labor and Employment Law, 2010, 2012
- Labor Law, 2014
- The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.)
- Employment Law – Management, 2017-2020
- Labor Law – Management, 2017-2020
- Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, 2009, 2011-2015, 2017-2018
- Leading Labor and Employment Lawyers in Texas, Chambers USA
Publications
- “3 Dramatic Workplace Changes Amid A Global Disease Threat,” D Magazine (June 9, 2020)
- “The Labor and Employment Horizon—2019,” Jackson Walker e-Alert (January 23, 2019)
- “Supreme Court Okays Class Action Waivers in Employee Arbitration Agreements,” The Texas Lawbook (May 24, 2018)
Speaking Engagements
- “Class Action Employment Litigation: What’s Left and What’s New,” UT Law 26th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference (May 9, 2019)
- Co-Presenter, “2018 Employment and Labor Law Update: The Year of #MeToo,” Labor & Employment Law Symposium (October 11, 2018)
- “Recent Updates to the Anti-SLAPP Law,” Dallas Bar Association Media Relations Committee (November 2018)
- “Flip-Flop at the Board: What’s Gone, What’s New, What’s Coming Under the NLRA,” UT Law CLE’s 25th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference (May 2018)
- “Recent Developments and A Look Ahead Under the National Labor Relations Act,” UT Law CLE’s 24th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference (June 2017)
- “Keeping Up With The Times Or Re-Writing History: The Pace and Scope of Change Under the National Labor Relations Act,” New Mexico Bar Association (October 2016)
- “Compensation Litigation and Regulation in Trucking: The Battle Between the States and the States, the Federal Government, and the Industry,” 29th Annual Conference of the North American Transportation Employee Relations Association (2016)
- State Bar of Texas
- Board of Directors, 2008-2011, 2014-2017
- Executive Committee, 2016-2017
- Named Outstanding Director, 2017
- Texas Access to Justice Commission, Commissioner, 2014-2017
- Legislative Policy Committee, Chair, 2015-Present
- Grievance Committee for District 6, Panel Chair, 2013-2014
- Client Security Fund, Chair, 2010-2011
- Labor & Employment Section, Chair, 2004-2005
- College of the State Bar of Texas, 1990-Present
- Board of Directors, 2008-2011, 2014-2017
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Dallas Bar Association
- Judicial Committee, Co-Chair, 2014
- New Laws/Legislation Committee, Chair, 1995
- Dallas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- American Bar Association
- American Bar Foundation, Fellow
- American Employment Law Council (AELC), 2011-Present
- College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Fellow, 2006-Present
- Employment Discrimination Law treatise, Editorial Board, 2013-Present
- General Counsel Forum – DFW Chapter, Board of Directors, 2001-2012
- Industrial Relations Research Association – North Texas Chapter, President, 1987
- North American Transportation Employee Relations Association, President, 2010
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Charges for Employment Litigation, Advisory Committee, 2005-2008
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Oklahoma Bar Association