IEL Elite

Overview

One of the US’s largest boutique firms, Jackson Lewis offers extensive coverage nationwide owing to its 63 offices and team members admitted before all courts.

Kevin G Lauri chairs the firm from New York, which has welcomed more than 20 lateral partners in the past year.

Kimya Johnson joined the firm in December 2021, taking the role of its first chief diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officer. Johnson was a senior counsel and chair of Ogletree Deakins’s DEI practice.

Another key lateral hire was the arrival of ex-Littler litigator Charles B Wilson in June 2022 to lead the firm’s Houston office. This followed the arrival of Paige Taylor Bennett, Kenneth J Harder, and Chuck Jeremiah to the office in February 2022.

The group has also extended its footprint across the country, and in October 2021 opened another California office in Riverside, led by Nicole M Shaffer, increasing its total offices in the state to seven.

The firm also opened an office in Nashville, Tennessee in January 2022. Stephen Price joined from Burr & Forman to lead the office, alongside Jennifer S Rusie, Leslie Sanders, and Daniel Crowell.

Jackson Lewis is a founding member of the L&E Global alliance, allowing it to smoothly facilitate advice on issues impacting clients beyond the US. The firm’s dedicated international practice group is led by Minnie Fu in Washington DC and John L Sander in New York.

Specialisms

The firm offers dedicated practice groups to cover all things labour and employment matters – from health and safety training through to restrictive covenants and unfair competition, including data privacy and internal investigations.

Its litigation prowess is frequently demonstrated in class actions, multi-jurisdictional disputes, and single-plaintiff claims. For example, Beverly Garofalo represented Cellmark Paper before the Connecticut Superior Court in a multi-million dollar commission claim. The dispute relates to a former employee’s allegations of breach of contract, failure to pay wages, and retaliation; Cellmark Paper counterclaimed for theft. Garofalo’s team oversaw the use of artificial intelligence and predictive coding in the e-discovery process.

Also of note, North Carolina-based Kathleen K Lucchesi acted for the City of Charlotte on four separate claims filed by five former and current fire service employees. The claims included race and gender discrimination, retaliation, and First Amendment violations.

The group is also able to assist with M&A and other corporate transactions that involve highly complicated employment or pensions considerations. Robert R Perry in New York, David M Pixley in Ohio, Stephen M Silvestri in Maryland, and Richard F Vitarelli in Connecticut assisted a private investment firm with reducing almost $50m in potential exposure following the acquisition of assets from eight multi-employer pension plans.

Further specialisms of note include affirmative action, immigration, and employment-related white collar crime.

Clients