Rachel Cowen > McDermott Will & Emery LLP > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile

The McDermott Will & Emery LLP US employment practice has a strong focus on M&A and private equity, regularly advising significant corporate clients on the employment aspects of major deals. In Chicago, Michael Sheehan leads the practice, while Rachel Cowen has a track record of work on cases concerning gender and pay equity and sensitive internal investigations, among other employment matters. Meanwhile, in New York, Linsay Ditlow  has deep experience of employment matters relating to corporate restructurings workforce reductions. The Los Angeles team contains individuals including Maria Rodriguez and Yesenia Gallegos. Rodriguez focuses her practice on clients in the media, entertainment, and sports industries; while Gallegos recently led the team which advised CVS Health on its acquisition of Signify Health.

Michael Sheehan in Chicago and Christopher Foster in San Francisco lead McDermott Will & Emery LLP‘s team. The group is an active in the technology, transportation, airline, retail, beverages, and entertainment industries and regularly advises regular advice and representation around the National Labor Relations Act. Rachel Cowen, who works out in the firm’s Chicago office, is a key name to note, and has carved a niche in the area of gender equality and pay equity. Elsewhere, the group sees restructurings, workforce management issues and an increase in M&A activity among its most recent workload.

The ‘exceptional’ practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP is equipped to handle the defense of class action, wage-and-hour, and single plaintiff actions, as well as dealing with executive compensation disputes, trade secrets litigation, and discrimination mandates. ‘Exceptional employment litigator’ Michael Sheehan steers the group from Chicago and garners client praise for his ‘incredibly practical and commercial advice’. Sheehan specializes in trade secrets litigation, and has additional experience defending companies against age, gender, and race discrimination claims, as well as wage-and-hour class actions. Also based in Chicago, Rachel Cowen majors on employment discrimination and wrongful termination cases. The department welcomed Jim Nicholas to the Boston office from Foley & Lardner LLP in April 2023.