Labor & Employment
We are labor and employment lawyers who try labor and employment lawsuits, counsel our clients on increasingly complex workplace laws and regulations, and represent our clients before federal, state, and local labor and employment agencies, such as the NLRB, the EEOC, and OSHA.
Our litigation practice includes complex executive compensation matters, class/collective actions, trade secret/unfair competition cases, breach of fiduciary duty and executive malfeasance cases. Our vast labor and employment litigation experience is the platform from which we provide advice and counsel to help our clients solve workplace challenges covering the entire range of employment issues. We focus both on traditional labor issues–including elections, contract negotiations, arbitration, strikes and lockouts–to employment law areas, such as discrimination, disability, Family and Medical Leave Act, workplace safety, and wage and hour issues.
We practice employment law backed by the resources of a full service firm in corporate, tax, bankruptcy, intellectual property, securities, employee benefits, oil and gas, media, complex litigation, cybersecurity, and all the areas offered by Jackson Walker’s over 300 attorneys. By blending our labor/employment subject matter experience with practitioners from these areas, we offer a unique blend of labor/employment subject matter know-how to handle complex litigation cases that cross disciplines, counsel clients on high level executive compensation matters, and offer practical solutions for business issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective. We empower our clients with this multi-disciplinary knowledge and experience, in the courtroom and the boardroom.
Our clients include international Fortune 100 companies, privately held companies of all shapes and sizes in media, retail, oil and gas, alternative energy, technology, entertainment and hospitality, trucking and delivery, financial and insurance, and manufacturers. Our cases range the full spectrum from “bet the company” cases to single plaintiff labor/employment lawsuits.
We are Texas lawyers, with all of our lawyers and offices in Texas. This gives us unparalleled knowledge of the Texas legal landscape, from county to county. It also drives our national practice because our clients regularly hire us to handle matters in other states. Our unique position also results in opportunities to represent international companies that find themselves faced with significant employment matters that require the resources of a full-service firm.
Within only the last two years, we have enjoyed the following successes for our clients:
- We tried a complex executive fraud/breach of fiduciary duty case,with significant counter claims against our client, to a jury for nearly four weeks. After we tried the rest of the case to the court, we ultimately prevailed with a $1.7 M judgment against the former executive, settling the case after that on extremely favorable terms.
- We decertified a 100-plus plaintiff collective action FLSA overtime case, and then tried the first group of those plaintiffs to a jury, resulting in a settlement during jury deliberations with which our client was very pleased.
- We tried a case against a labor union that was seeking millions of dollars in allegedly unpaid benefits and won so emphatically that the union did not appeal.
- We filed a computer fraud and abuse act against a former executive of a large, publicly traded company, and brought such force to bear in the case, using a team led by our labor/employment lawyers but including bankruptcy and e-discovery lawyers, that it settled very favorably 6 weeks after we filed it, with the executive losing millions of dollars in benefits as a result of a “cause” termination.
- We decertified an FLSA collective action that would have had nearly 100 plaintiffs, leaving it with only 7 named plaintiffs, against whom we ultimately won summary judgment.
May 11, 2023
Webinars
Join Jackson Walker and Insperity for the Virtual Spring Labor & Employment Law Seminar
Join Jackson Walker and Insperity for the Spring Labor & Employment Law Seminar discussing current labor and employment law topics that might impact you and your company.
May 3, 2023
Insights
The Latest on What Media Employers Should Know About the FTC’s Proposed Ban on Non-Competes
By Jamila Brinson
If I were a betting woman, I would say what remains top of mind for most media employers in 2023 remains the Federal Trade Commission’s January 5 proposed rule banning employers from utilizing non-compete clauses with their employees. The FTC’s proposal has led other employment attorneys to ask the question: Can we really imagine a world without non-competes and, if not, what are media employers doing about it?
May 3, 2023
Insights
As the CROWN Act Gains Momentum in Texas, Employers Should Prepare
By Dawn S. Holiday
On April 13, 2023, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 567, known as the Texas CROWN Act, that would prohibit race-based discrimination in schools, workplaces, and housing. The Texas legislation is a state version of the CROWN Act, an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles, including braids, locks, twists, bantu knots, Afros, and cornrows.
May 4, 2023
Insights
Indiana to Further Restrict Physician Non-Competes
By Michael A. Drab
On April 25, 2023, the Indiana Senate passed an amendment banning non-compete agreements with primary care physicians (defined as physicians practicing family medicine, general pediatric medicine, and internal medicine) executed on or after July 1, 2023. The current version, originally introduced as an outright ban, represents a series of compromises between the Indiana House and Indiana Senate. Governor Eric Holcomb is expected to sign the bill into law.
March 30, 2023
Insights
What’s in an Emoji? How Generational Differences in Communication Impact the Workplace and Can Increase Liability
By Baker Howry, Shannon Wright, and Jamila Brinson
To meme or not to meme, that is the question. With millennials comprising 35% of the workforce and Gen Z expected to reach 30% by 2030, the use of emojis, emoticons, and memes in the workplace is inevitable. This article provides an overview of what emojis mean for employers, including the potential for miscommunication, how courts have analyzed them, and key considerations for risk management.
March 23, 2023
Attorney News
Jackson Walker Congratulates Its 2023 Texas Rising Stars
Jackson Walker is pleased to announce the selection of 63 attorneys to Thomson Reuters’ 2023 “Super Lawyers – Rising Stars” list, which recognizes only 5% of Texas attorneys who either are 40 years of age or younger or have been in practice for 10 years or less.
March 20, 2023
Attorney News
Jackie Staple Selected to Participate in Ladder Down Program
Jackson Walker partner Jackie C. Staple has been selected to participate in the Ladder Down leadership training program offered by the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC).
March 9, 2023
Attorney News
Dawn Holiday Named Fellow of Houston Bar Foundation
Dawn Holiday has been elected as a fellow of the Houston Bar Foundation, an honor bestowed upon less than 1% of Houston Bar Association members each year.
February 28, 2023
Spotlight
Jamila Brinson Shares Her Family and Career Story With ‘The Texas Lawbook’ in Honor of Black History Month
In honor of Black History Month, Jackson Walker attorney Jamila Brinson shared her family and career story in The Texas Lawbook.
February 27, 2023
Insights
The Supreme Court Holds “Daily Rate” Not a “Salary” Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
On February 22, 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. et al v. Hewitt, a case involving a recurring issue under the Fair Labor Standards Act: what constitutes a “salary.” Specifically, the Court answered whether a “daily rate” pay structure can be a “salary.” The Supreme Court’s decision is one that could have a significant impact, particularly in the oil and gas industry where many workers are paid a “daily rate.”
The Labor & Employment Dispatch newsletter from Jackson Walker provides news and insights in labor and employment law.
