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 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.
With a deep bench of experienced lawyers, Jackson Walker’s employment practice has unparalleled knowledge of the Texas and national labor and employment landscape.
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.
April 17, 2024
Insights
Student-Athletes as Employees Spells Legal Stressors for Schools | Bloomberg Tax
The union-aspiring Dartmouth College men’s basketball team has put the full court press on their “employer,” labor agencies, and courts of law — with far-reaching legal and financial implications.
April 10, 2024
Insights
Texas Hair Bias Ruling Does Not Give Employers A Pass I Law360 (Subscription Required)
By Dawn S. Holiday
Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN, Act, aims to strengthen worker protections against race-based hair discrimination while ensuring dignity and respect for cultural and personal expression.
April 5, 2024
Insights
Challenges to an International Arbitration Award I ITA In Review
By Lionel M. Schooler
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently ruled on the case Baker Hughes Services International, LLC v. Joshi Technologies International, Inc., emphasizing the scope of subject matter jurisdiction of American federal courts in evaluating challenges to arbitral awards in international arbitration under the New York Convention.
April 4, 2024
Speaking Engagements
Kelly Cobb and Scott Fiddler to Join Panel Discussing Updates in Immigration, Employment, and Tax
Jackson Walker Houston partners Kelly D. Cobb and G. Scott Fiddler are set to participate in a panel discussion titled “Empower your Business: Navigating Updates in Immigration, Employment, and Tax” on Wednesday, April 24, at the Jackson Walker Houston office.
March 21, 2024
Attorney News
Jackson Walker Congratulates 2024 Texas Rising Stars
Each year, Super Lawyers 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 as “Rising Stars.”
February 22, 2024
Speaking Engagements
Jackie Staple Presents “Big Brother Watching: Workplace Privacy” at LEGALKwik
Jackson Walker employment law partner Jackie C. Staple is scheduled to present at HR Houston’s program, LEGALKwik, on Thursday, February 29, at the Houston Racquet Club.
February 21, 2024
Speaking Engagements
Lionel Schooler to Discuss the Status of FLSA Collective Action Certification
Jackson Walker partner Lionel M. Schooler is set to participate in a panel discussion that will delve into the current state of FLSA collective action certification in light of the recent Swales and Clark appellate decisions.
February 12, 2024
Attorney News
Jackson Walker Announces Election of 5 Attorneys to Partnership
Jackson Walker is pleased to announce the election of 5 attorneys to the firm’s partnership.
January 25, 2024
Attorney News
David Schlottman Appointed Chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section
Jackson Walker congratulates Dallas partner David Schlottman on his appointment as Chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section.
January 12, 2024
Insights
U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Rule on Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
By Dawn S. HolidayÂ
On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced the issuance of the final rule, Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). According to the DOL, the 339-page final rule and guidance will reduce the risk that employees are misclassified as independent contractors.
