IEL Elite
Highly acclaimed global practice
Overview
With more than 1,600 labour and employment lawyers in 28 countries, Littler is able to offer global support to businesses through its impressive network of 107 offices across the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The “mega boutique” is led by Denver-based managing director Erin A Webber.
Peter Susser in Washington DC chairs the firm’s International Employment Law Practice Group. Other names of note include key Europe contact Stephan C Swinkels in Amsterdam, US co-chairs Johan Lubbe and Philip M Berkowitz in New York, and Trent M Sutton in Singapore for Asia matters.
Over the last 12 months, the firm has continued with its impressive international expansion. It has expanded into Switzerland, Denmark, and Hawaii – and opened new offices in Portugal, Spain, and Mexico, bringing its total number of outposts in each country up to three.
The firm has also been on a lateral hiring surge over the past year, adding 16 new shareholders since July 2022 alone. These include new shareholders in Atlanta, Chicago, London, Oslo, and Toronto – as well as the addition of former Justice of the Brazilian Superior Labor Court Márcio Eurico Vitral Amaro as partner to the firm’s correspondent counsel in Brazil, Chiode Minicucci.
Specialisms
On a day-to-day basis, the firm’s various offices assist clients with global mobility and data retention queries, sensitive issues with potentially harmful reputational ramifications (including whistleblower claims and discrimination allegations), relations with unions and works councils, and labour and employment disputes.
The firm’s broad global spread allows it to support clients with matters covering significant numbers of jurisdictions at once. For example, a global team led by Raoul Parekh in London and Niall Pelly in Dublin advised international hiring start-up Omnipresent on its “OmniEntities” project, and helped the client navigate employment laws in more than 60 countries.
Meanwhile, Jan-Ove Becker in Germany led the pan-jurisdictional team that assisted Rolls-Royce Power Systems with the creation of standardised global remote working policies.
The firm is well placed to assist clients with the employment issues relating to strategic corporate decisions – from international expansion projects through to M&A and restructuring operations. This was evidenced in the advice to Olympus Group on the spin-off of its Scientific Solutions Company and transfer of staff to a new entity. German partners Christoph Crisolli and Antje Peterhänsel led the mandate, which impacted the client’s staff in Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, and Spain.
Additionally, a multi-office team also advised German online supermarket FLINK on the labour considerations of its expansion into Austria, France, and the Netherlands.
Led by Alexander Bartz in Düsseldorf, a team from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and the US advised Abercrombie & Fitch on its repositioning within the German market, including store openings and closings, and disputes with works councils.
In the US, the firm is well placed to manage clients’ litigation needs, with experts capable of handling health and safety, whistleblower and retaliation, unfair competition and trade secrets, wage and hour, discrimination, and harassment disputes. Littler is also well regarded for its work acting for employers in unfair labour practice claims, allegations of union busting, and collective bargaining matters involving the National Labor Relations Board.
Clients also instruct the firm on D&I initiatives. To assist employers with this increasingly important and complex area, the firm recently launched its Inclusion, Equity & Diversity (IE&D) Playbook: a free tool that provides resources – including videos, FAQs, and podcasts – on fundamental D&I issues.
Also of note, in February 2022 Littler began a pro bono initiative to support those displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including a telephone hotline. As part of this, the firm has given webinars on cross-border employment issues resulting from the war.
Clients
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Other key names
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Experts based in…
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.
Profile provided by Littler
Littler understands that workplace issues can’t wait. With access to more than 1,700 employment attorneys in over 100 offices around the world, the firm’s clients don’t have to. The firm aims to go beyond best practices, creating solutions that help clients navigate a complex business world. What’s distinct about Littler’s approach? With deep experience and resources that are local, everywhere, the firm is fully focused on clients’ business needs. With a diverse team of the brightest minds, Littler fosters a culture that celebrates original thinking. And with powerful proprietary technology, the firm disrupts the status quo – delivering groundbreaking innovation that prepares employers not just for what’s happening today, but for what’s likely to happen tomorrow. For 80 years, Littler has harnessed these strengths to offer fresh perspectives on each matter it advises, litigates, mediates, and negotiates on.
With Littler’s collective knowledge and experience, the firm provides clients with comprehensive legal services covering the full range of workplace issues, including general labor and employment advice, litigation and dispute resolution, labor relations, compliance, codes of conduct, workforce management, data privacy, employment and transfer agreements, corporate labor governance, and knowledge management and training. Littler is experienced in handling multi-country labor and employment matters that span the globe and often works with leading attorneys in jurisdictions worldwide to provide clients with global legal services and a single point of contact.
The firm’s international operations span four continents – North America, South America, Asia and Europe – and 28 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Brazil (via a correspondent counsel relationship), Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Venezuela. The firm’s global capabilities also include lawyers with exceptional international experience, including practitioners dually licensed in the U.S. and Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and South Africa.