‘A go-to for high stakes employment disputes and litigation,’ McDermott Will & Schulte is a truster advisor to a variety of blue-chip companies from the media and entertainment, professional services, and retail sectors. The practice regularly acts before state and federal courts in high-value wage and hour class actions and lawsuits arising from allegations of discrimination, wrongful termination, and toirtous interference, as well as non-compete violations, contract breaches, and defamation. In Los Angeles, Maria Rodriguez heads up the group and stands out for her expertise in class actions prompted by wage and hour, harassment, and retaliation claims, alongside non-solicitation, breach of contract, and trade secrets disputes. The department also benefits from the aptitude of unfair competition specialist Pankit Doshi, based in San Francisco, class action litigation authority Joseph Mulherin, also in Chicago, and Los Angeles-based Yesenia Gallegos, who is adept at leading on FCRA class actions and discrimination claims.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Client satisfaction: NPS ®
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team is aggressive and creative in devising litigation strategy to enforce the contractual and fiduciary obligations of departing partners and employees.’
‘I have had exceptional, positive experiences with the following members of the team: Eli Berman, Rachel Cowen.’
‘This team is a go-to for high stakes employment disputes and litigation.’
‘Top notch.’
Key clients
- BDO USA LLP
- Circle K Stores
- F.W. Webb Company
- Summit Health/CityMD
Work highlights
Representing Summit Health/CityMD on a wage-and-hour class action by Patient CareRepresentatives alleging “manual worker” status and pay frequency violations under New York law
Representing BDO USA, P.C. in multiple unfair competition and raiding matters, including litigation against former leaders and competitors involving employee poaching, trade secret theft, and the faithless-servant doctrine.
Representing F.W. Webb on race discrimination and retaliation lawsuits and on an appeal of an overtime misclassification ruling that could affect nearly 1,000 internal sales representatives.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Maria Rodriguez
Other key lawyers
Pankit Doshi; Joseph Mulherin; Yesenia Gallegos; Jim Nicholas; Jeremy White; Eli Berman