The Legal 500

Gibson Dunn handles highly complex, sensitive and challenging labor and employment law disputes for its clients. Although smaller than many practice groups in the table, the team undertakes undeniably impressive work and is described by its competitors as, quite simply, ‘off the charts brilliant’. A recent example of the ground-breaking cases the firm has won include its representation of UPS; the firm led the world’s largest package delivery company to a sweeping victory in which it persuaded the Third Circuit to reverse a district court order certifying the largest class in the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The firm also recently successfully defended its client’s “Wellness” Initiative in the nationally watched case Rodrigues v EG Systems, Inc (Scotts Lawnservice), and obtained the reversal from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of a decision from the US District Court for the Central District of California, which had vacated an award in favor of Hawaiian Airlines before the Hawaiian Airlines System Board of Adjustment. The firm is currently representing Marie Callender Pie Shops in five separate class actions involving wage and hour issues, including cases pending in Ventura, Orange and Los Angeles superior courts and federal court in San Diego. It is also assisting Enterprise Rent-A-Car Companies, the largest rental car company in North America, in multiple nationwide wage-and-hour class actions coordinated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Other clients include Tenet Healthcare, Transamerica Corp, Weight Watchers and EXI Parsons Telecom. The co-chair of the labor and employment practice group Eugene Scalia has a particularly impressive market reputation. He ‘brings brilliance with his insights’, and ‘has a remarkable ability to see the issues clearly’. The newly appointed co-chair of the practice group Christopher Martin, William Kilberg, Baruch Fellner and Jason Schwartz are also highly recommended. In 2010, former co-chair of the group William Claster was appointed as a judge of the Orange County Superior Court. In 2011, Los Angeles-based Jesse Cripps was promoted to the partnership.

With acknowledged expertise in both traditional labor and employment law, Jones Day has an extremely impressive spread of talented litigators across the US, and fully deserves its national reputation for excellence in this field. The firm currently represents Bloomberg in a class action case brought by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and by six individual plaintiff-intervenors, and recently obtained summary judgment on behalf of IBM as to the claims of a plaintiff seeking to represent a statewide class of California IT workers. Also of note, the firm is defending AstraZeneca in several pharmaceutical industry class actions in which plaintiffs contend that the company misclassified pharmaceutical sales representatives as exempt from state-law overtime requirements. In addition, in another leading case, in 2010 the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ruled in favor of the firm’s client McDonald’s Corporation, denying the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in a putative state-wide wage-and-hour class action. Other representative clients include Hilton Worldwide, US Steel Corporation, CBS Corporation (formerly Viacom) and Abbott Laboratories. The ‘very bright’ Lawrence DiNardo is a ‘great lawyer’ and is the global head of practice. He has tried more than 35 cases to verdict before juries around the US and handled an equal number of cases before federal and state appellate courts. Glen Nager chairs the firm’s issues and appeal practice and has experience of appearing before the Supreme Court, as well as other appeals in employment law. Curt Kirschner is recommended for his ‘ability to communicate, writing skills and responsiveness’. Michael Gray is passionate about his work and is a leader in the area of electronic discovery. Mathew Lampe speaks throughout the country on employment-related topics, including class action defense and wage and hour compliance. Ronald Johnson is recommended for his experience relating to the transportation sector. He has argued dozens of federal appellate matters for railroads, including a case before the US Supreme Court on behalf of the railroad industry. The firm recently welcomed two new partners, Rick Bergstrom in San Diego from Morrison & Foerster LLP and Railway Labor Act expert Donald Munro in Washington DC, who was previously at Goodwin Procter LLP.

Joseph Costello’s labor and employment litigation team at Morgan Lewis is held in the very highest esteem by its clients. ‘Impeccable service with great results’. ‘It has the deepest “bench” of first-class labor lawyers and employment litigators in the US’. ‘It rates higher than other law firms in terms of skills, abilities, response time and bench strength’. ‘Excellent response times, appropriateness of advice, excellent business acumen and industry knowledge’. Recent highlight work includes concluding a successful representation of Stewart Business Systems, a seller/servicer of office equipment, in a lawsuit in New Jersey state court against Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office and 19 former Stewart employees and, in a victory for client Rolls-Royce, a federal court in Indianapolis issued a decision denying class certification in Randall v Rolls-Royce Corporation, a gender discrimination class action that advanced a novel theory for class-wide liability based on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. From Washington DC, Grace Speights ‘is the best when it comes to litigation strategy, particularly in EEO litigation and in dealing with EEOC matters. Grace is brilliant at client relations. Her level of experience cannot be matched. She wins instant respect from executives she deals with’. Indeed, ‘the Washington office team is very closely connected with officials at DOL, NLRB, and EEOC and is highly regarded by officials inside these agencies, which is a great asset in dealing with agency investigators’. Michael Banks is a ‘subject matter expert who is driven to get positive results’, while Nina Stillman is ‘a highly skilled lawyer who can provide legal advice efficiently and accurately. She identifies issues, always assists us in getting to the “right” answer and does so efficiently and effectively. Nina can do more in a 15 minute phone call than most practitioners can do in a day’. ‘She works passionately for her clients and is practical and business minded’. In addition to obtaining several summary judgments, Melinda Riechart has tried to judgment or arbitrated 14 cases over the last 15 years and prevailed on all employment issues in each case. Also highly regarded, New York-based Samuel Shaulson is co-chair of the firm’s financial services employment law practice. Robert Smith and Clifford Sethness are also highly recommended. In 2011, Ira Rosenstein joined the firm from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

The attorneys at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP are ‘excellent; very knowledgeable pragmatic’, and ‘are highly intelligent, experienced, organized and dedicated to representing clients’ interests’. Recently, the firm prevented a conflagration for Cintas; a series of discrimination class actions challenged almost every conceivable personnel practice on behalf of minority and female applicants and employees at more than 400 facilities across America, potentially exposing the employer to more than a billion dollars in damages. In 2010, the team won summary judgment in the same case on the claims of the final remaining named plaintiff and entry of costs in favor of its client. The firm is also handling collective actions for Dollar Tree Stores, and won a critical victory for GSK in a putative nationwide collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act filed in the US District Court for the District of Arizona. In another high-profile, case the firm is representing MXenergy in one of the first cases arising under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Nancy Abell, global chair of the firm’s 180-lawyer employment law department ‘is a strategist’. ‘She is very bright and brings a graceful presence to proceedings, which is remarkable’. Highly regarded Barbara Brown is chair of the 25,000 member labor & employment law section of the American Bar Association. Heather Morgan focuses on nationwide discrimination class actions, and has particular expertise on employee privacy issues and complex electronic discovery requirements and processes, while Leslie Abbott has significant experience in wage and hour law. Elena Baca has successfully defended clients at trial and in arbitration forums against disability, age, national origin, race, retaliation, sexual harassment, and wage and hour claims, and Kirby Wilcox has defended dozens of equal employment opportunity and wage-and-hour class actions. Jeffrey Grube’s strengths are in disability accommodation, wage and hour class actions, independent contractor agreements, sales commission disputes, wrongful termination, and equal employment opportunity litigation. Also highly recommended are Stephen Berry in Orange County, and trade secrets expert Bradford Newman in Palo Alto.

At Proskauer Rose LLP, ‘the level of service provided is second to none. Response times are immediate, industry knowledge is keen and advice is appropriate’. The firm continues to shape the law at local, state and national levels. Hot on the heels of the firm’s success in 14 Penn Plaza v Pyett, it handled Hoffman v Parade Publications, et al, which was decided in July 2010 by the New York State Court of Appeals in favor of its client. The firm has also taken on numerous class actions. In Edwards vs PCF, the firm secured the denial of class certification to a group of current and former newspaper deliverers, who accused PCF of classifying them as independent workers and requiring them to sign independent contractor agreements, despite the fact that they were allegedly treated like company employees. The firm is also representing the Royal Bank of Scotland in multiple lawsuits, including three putative class actions filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state laws, alleging that bank branch employees were not paid overtime when they worked more than 40 hours a week. Co-chair of the practice Paul Salvatore is ‘knowledgeable, accessible, and reasonable. We are able to reach out to him for expert advice at any time and he handles it as if we are his sole client. He provides a superb service’. His fellow co-chair Elise Bloom is ‘great in the courtroom and is very knowledgeable. She is also very good at giving solid, practical advice on what approaches should be taken in litigation, and why. She makes a budget and lives by it, and knows how to keep costs in check’. Meanwhile ‘top-flight lawyer’ Bettina Plevan ‘is an icon’, and Howard Ganz is ‘responsive and smart’. Joseph Baumgarten ‘understands our business needs and gives practical legal advice to help us meet those needs’. Kathleen McKenna ‘is a very strong litigator who is excellent on her feet and always has a deep grasp of the facts and the relevant law’. Lawrence Sandak ‘is extremely knowledgeable, smart and savvy’. Jeremy Brown is also recommended. The labor and employment team recently welcomed Scott Faust, who was previously at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, and Nigel Telman, formerly at Sidley Austin LLP.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP is another firm that has a small but cutting-edge labor and employment litigation team. ‘The firm has provided us with uniformly timely and excellent guidance and advice. The lawyers have a unique understanding of how our industry operates, and the counsel they give us reflects that knowledge’. ‘The individual lawyers with whom we most often work grasp the issues the company is facing very quickly, and offer practical solutions’. An example of its tenacity was its representation of FedEx Ground Package System, in multidistrict litigation where its classification of its pickup and delivery personnel as independent contractors (as opposed to employees) has been challenged by plaintiffs in dozens of cases implicating thousands of pickup and delivery personnel nationwide. The firm successfully defeated numerous class certification motions, and recently succeeded in obtaining summary judgment in 21 of the cases along with a holding that the class members (thousands of delivery personnel) were independent contractors (and not employees). Other highlight work included representing Delta Air Lines in a matter against the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA in the Eastern District of New York, and acting for Hershey in a nationwide wage and hour collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and a class action under California law seeking recovery for overtime, lost meal and break periods, alleged paycheck irregularities, and other supposed wage and hour violations. The firm also won a sweeping victory in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for clients US Airways Group and US Airways in a groundbreaking Railway Labor Act case. The firm focuses on developing areas of the law and is currently representing employers in disputes regarding theft of confidential and proprietary information and trade secrets by former employees including the investigation of alleged information thefts. Framroze Virjee, Robert Siegel, Jeffrey Kohn and Apalla Chopra are recommended.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s ‘level of expertise is top-notch and I feel we get very good value for our money’. ‘We receive tremendous client service from the firm’. From a global platform, the firm advises on high-profile and high-value engagements. It is worldwide employment counsel for Facebook, providing all employment law, data privacy and global equity advice and dispute representation, as the social networking site dramatically increases its footprint globally. In further high-profile matters, the firm represented Morgan Stanley in Drake v Morgan Stanley, a wage-and-hour class action in which a federal judge denied a motion to certify the class, and assisted Wyndham Worldwide in two cases that went to jury trials. In Tamer Mamou v Trendwest Resorts, Inc, a case alleging retaliation, national origin discrimination and defamation, the case settled favorably following a three week jury trial. In Jennifer Maamo v Trendwest Resorts, Inc, a case alleging sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the case settled favorably following opening statements. In addition, the firm represented Oracle and its new president, Mark Hurd, against claims brought by his former employer Hewlett-Packard, and the firm is currently representing PwC in a California-wide and proposed nationwide wage-and-hour class action. Mike Delikat is chair of the employment law group and has extensive experience with issues arising from trade secret misappropriation and the enforcement of post-employment restrictions, wage-and-hour collective actions and other class actions based on gender and race, with particular expertise representing companies in the financial services industry. Also recommended are Lynne Hermle and Robert Shwarts. Andrew Livingston ‘is very responsive, does an excellent job of keeping us updated on all the matters he handles for us and possesses tremendous employment law knowledge’. In 2011, Ira Rosenstein left the firm and joined Morgan Lewis.

‘What sets Seyfarth Shaw’s lawyers apart from many other law firms is their focus not only on results, but also on effective and thorough communication on the defense of litigation within budget and consistent with the client’s interests’. ‘It is constantly thinking and acting one step ahead of opposing counsel’. The ‘smart, organized, incredibly responsive’ Camille Olson, Gerald Maatman, who is ‘an outstanding lawyer and extraordinarily loyal and responsive to his clients’, and David Kadue lead the firm’s complex discrimination litigation practice group. Richard Alfred, who ‘is extremely knowledgeable, responsive and takes the time to individualize his advice’, Lorie Almon and the ‘smart and responsive’ Andrew Paley are in charge of the firm’s wage and hour litigation group. Ariel Cudkowicz chairs the single-plaintiff litigation practice group. In a recent victory, Ellis et al v DHL Express et al, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals supported the District Court’s decision affirming a grant of summary judgment in DHL’s favor in a WARN case emanating from the closure of 5 Chicago-area facilities in 2008. The ruling is the first published Seventh Circuit decision holding that an employee may waive WARN claims. The firm was also chosen to represent Hewlett Packard (HP) in significant litigation matters involving its former-CEO Mark Hurd’s decision to become president of Oracle following his termination of employment with HP. The firm is also representing Sterling Jewelers in a nationwide class action asserting gender discrimination claims, and is defending Intel in two substantial wage and hour overtime class actions, in which the plaintiffs allege that their positions were misclassified as salaried-exempt positions. Raymond Baldwin ‘is a tenacious litigator who stands out for his exceptional patience, calm nature, and likability. This calming demeanor on the one hand, coupled with an aggressive, competitive litigation style on the other hand, is a winning combination’. Jeremy Sherman, Gilmore Diekmann and Linda Schoonmaker are also recommended. In 2010, the firm welcomed Jeffrey Berman from Sidley Austin LLP and Eric Steinert from Wells Fargo. However, it also lost a team of eight employment litigators including wage and hour and discrimination class action experts Thomas Kaufman, Michael Gallion and Gregg Fisch to Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s deliberately small labor and employment team packs an impressive punch and has an enviable client list to prove it. The group focuses on complex, multidisciplinary problems, such as class and mass actions, large scale reductions in force, executive compensation and separation agreements, restrictive covenant and trade secrets litigation involving key personnel, and the full breadth of issues arising from mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructurings and bankruptcies. ‘For high stakes matters – where a positive outcome is a must – I have found no comparable firm’. ‘The judgment from the labor and employment team is perfect. I always get the best legal advice, which is optimized to the business issues, corporate environment and needs, and individual case considerations. Moreover, there is a strong commitment to top client service, manifested in quick response times and high-quality work product’. The firm has recently advised on a raft of high-profile matters. In McReynolds v Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc, it defeated a motion for certification of a nationwide class on behalf of Merrill Lynch in a case alleging race discrimination. The ruling followed three years of discovery on class certification issues. During this time frame, other brokerage firms settled similar claims for millions of dollars, rather than risk an adverse ruling on class certification. The firm was also retained by Gate Gourmet and Gate Safe to defend them in two related complex nationwide class and collective actions involving wage and hour claims brought under both federal and California law, and managed to negotiate a very favorable settlement for its client. Gary Friedman’s ‘technical skills are excellent and he is always keen to offer strong and effective solutions’. Jeffrey Klein is recommended for his ‘unprecedented responsiveness, pragmatic and balanced advice, his willingness to invest in a long term relationships and his decisive ability to translate cutting edge legal issues to meaningful advice’. Employment bankruptcy law expert Lawrence Baer is also recommended.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP may not have offices across the country, but its New York-based team has a national reputation for its high-quality work, and in particular for its expertise in single plaintiff cases in the financial services sector. Recent highlight work undertaken includes advising Citibank, UBS and Marathon Asset Management on whistleblower and bonus claims that were dismissed in three separate actions before AAA, JAMS and FINRA. The firm also represented JPMorgan/Bear Sterns in a whistleblower case that was dismissed by an arbitration panel, and $600,000 was awarded to the firm’s client representing the return of certain compensation and attorneys fees. In another case, the firm represented Barclays Capital in a national origin discrimination case that was dismissed by FINRA. The firm also takes on class actions – it is currently advising Chemed (Roto Rooter) on a Nationwide Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage law collective and class action comprising thousands of potential class members. Group chair, and ‘terrific lawyer’ Kevin LeBlang provides ‘practical, business-oriented advice and is always available’. Robert Holtzman is ‘very pragmatic and business-focused’ and Jennifer Rochon is ‘fantastic’. ‘You could call at any point and they are ready at a moments notice to talk about the minutiae of our case. They understand our needs and genuinely care about the outcome of the case. Their knowledge is exactly what we need’.

Reed Smith LLP is ‘absolutely top notch in terms of responsiveness’. The firm is ‘very, very practical’, and has a ‘strong legal base and an extremely good ability to translate and interact with client groups’. The firm is also ‘very responsive to client concerns and willing to adjust as needed, including case staffing’. It recently secured a complete defense in favor of its client Ready Pac Produce against a former employee claiming retaliation and wrongful termination. It also acted in Simonyan v Countrywide, et al, a putative California and nationwide class action that was filed in California alleging 6 causes of action against Countrywide and Bank of America based upon alleged violations of the WARN Act, California’s WARN Act, ERISA and various state wage and hour laws. The firm also recently secured voluntary dismissal of Kaiser Permanente from a putative California class action that sought millions in statutory damages as well as recovery for more than a hundred claims of actual identity theft. Other representative clients include UPS and Prudential Insurance Company of America. Karl Fritton is the global labor and employment practice chair at the firm. His talented group includes Linda Husar and Casey Ryan, who is ‘really strong legally and personally’ and ‘is not afraid to litigate’. Thomas Hill and Martha Hartle Munsch are also recommended.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has a national presence, but a particularly strong reputation for its growing West Coast practice. ‘The service provided by all attorneys in the firm is excellent, prompt and responsive’. ‘I go to this firm for my most critical cases’. ‘Its knowledge of the subject matter is superior to most other practitioners and firms’. ‘It gets the highest marks for expertise, responsiveness and strength of team’. Recent highlight work includes the representation of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in a class action that has been aggressively litigated since 2005. Summary judgment was granted to Cedars-Sinai in this complex lawsuit that involved seven causes of action, including overtime, meal period, itemized wage statement (pay stub), parking fee, forced patronage, unfair competition and other claims. The firm also recently represented Chipotle Mexican Grill, a national chain of restaurants; the Court granted Chipotle’s motion to deny class certification of meal period, rest period, overtime, off-the-clock work, records, PAGA, and UBP claims. In a victory for its client, the Court also denied the plaintiff’s motion for class certification. Wage-hour expert Richard Simmons, who is ‘responsive, knowledgeable and aggressive’, is an ‘incredible public speaker and lecturer, as well as writer’. Tracey Kennedy and Ryan McCortney are also recommended. In 2010, the firm welcomed a group of eight employment practitioners from Seyfarth Shaw including partners Thomas Kaufman, Michael Gallion and Gregg Fisch.

From offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Stamford and Washington DC, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.’s lawyers defend individual and class action cases in judicial, administrative and arbitral forums. The firm has extensively represented hospitals and health systems, biotechnology and life sciences companies, health plans and healthcare insurers, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and academic medical centers. New York-based Ronald Green manages the firm’s nationwide labor and employment practice. Peter Stein and Martin Wickliff are also recommended.

Over the past five years alone, Jackson Lewis LLP’s employment litigators have defended more than 8,000 individual lawsuits and 600 class actions in every conceivable cause of action relating to the workplace. It is ‘an excellent firm that rates high’. Vincent Cino’s litigation team recently won a pregnancy discrimination case before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and favorably settled two collective action FLSA lawsuits against The Pantry (a Fortune 500 company). The firm also acted for the defendant in Saridakis v South Broward Hospital District, where the plaintiff, a former trauma surgeon, sued the Hospital System asserting gender discrimination and retaliation claims under the Equal Pay Act, Title VII and the Florida Civil Rights Act, after the Hospital System declined to renew her employment agreement in 2006. After a two and a half week federal jury trial, the firm successfully obtained a highly-favorable jury verdict for the Hospital System. Kevin Lauri, Joan Ackerstein, Ashley Abel and Thomas Walsh are all recommended. Also of note, the firm recently welcomed e-discovery expert Ralph Losey to the partnership.

With over 800 attorneys in 50 offices nationwide, ‘outstanding’ Littler Mendelson, P.C. has a national labor and employment practice that provides ‘value and excellent subject matter knowledge’. The firm recently acted in Granite Rock Co v International Brotherhood of Teamsters, et al, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the dispute over a collective bargaining agreement’s formation date was a matter for the District Court, not an arbitrator, to resolve. In another Supreme Court case, Rent-A-Center West v Jackson, at issue was whether questions regarding unconscionability of the arbitration agreement are to be decided by the arbitrator or the court, when the arbitration agreement clearly delegates that authority to the arbitrator. From a number of talented practitioners, Marko Mrkonich, Keith Hult, Allan King, Alan Carlson , Jay St Clair , Scott Lidman, Garry Mathiason and Julie Dunne are recommended.

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC’s ‘attorneys are very high quality, give great advice and get good results’. The firm’s class action defense practice group has extensive experience in the defense of a wide variety of representative and class action lawsuits in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Trial attorneys in its 40 US offices have defended class actions in such substantive areas as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the WARN Act, the National Labor Relations Act, FLSA, ERISA, toxic tort, breach of contract, civil RICO, consumer fraud, product liability, securities fraud, and unfair competition. Donald Prophete represents employers in suits involving race, sex, age and disability discrimination, the FMLA, the FLSA, and related common law claims. He has significant experience within the telecommunications, retail, restaurant, utilities and manufacturing sectors.

Vedder Price’s labor and employment team has continued to grow in its Chicago, New York and Washington DC offices. ‘It is incredibly responsive and represents a very real value in today’s economy. It understands the pressures facing in-house counsel and the need to bring more to the table then just sound legal advice. I can spend twenty minutes and save thousands. It has taken client satisfaction and responsiveness to a new level that I have not experienced with other firms’. ‘Our company performs better as a result of having it as part of our external legal team.’ The firm represented Tracer Research Corporation/Praxair Services in federal court litigation lasting over four years, which involved claims by a former independent contractor of breach of contract and violation of wage payment statute. The firm recently obtained complete defense jury verdict in federal court following a five-day jury trial, and continues to represent this client in post-trial motions. Chair of the labor and employment group Thomas Wilde is recommended. ‘His strengths include extensive knowledge of labor and employment law-related issues, a good understanding of our business and great interpersonal skills’. Amy Bess is also highly regarded.