Labor & Employment

Business-Minded Approaches to Employment Issues

Bracewell has one of the most highly regarded labor and employment practices in the nation. Our team advises clients in multiple industries on a range of matters, which has earned us the reputation as a top practice in Chambers USA and Legal 500 US.

We represent public and private employers across a wide breadth of industries, such as energy, hospitality, manufacturing, education, financial services, healthcare, staffing, media and technology. We also handle industry-specific issues regarding employment and labor matters in the energy sector, including security clearance and NERC background checks.

Our team brings a business-minded approach to employment-related issues, which enables us to obtain favorable settlements and avoid lengthy trials. We help clients on substantial matters nationwide involving class actions, wage and hour issues, age discrimination and race discrimination. We also handle whistleblower cases, as well as ERISA- and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)-related litigation, collective bargain and union organizing.

Our lawyers regularly advise clients on compliance with state and federal regulations. We work with clients to development response to emerging issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as developments in the law.

In addition, we work alongside other practices within the firm to provide a full spectrum of services to our clients, from major M&A transactions to criminal proceedings involving labor and employment issues.

Areas of Focus

Agreements

We help employers balance the need to attract and retain key employees with the protection of valuable proprietary information and intellectual property. Our lawyers identify risks relating to information, customers, employees and contractors and to recommend strategies to secure the greatest protections possible.

When former employees or contractors violate the terms of these agreements or policies, we institute litigation and take swift action to minimize potential losses through a variety of legal options, including assertions of rights, demand letters, cease and desist instructions, temporary restraining orders, and preliminary and permanent injunctions.

Meet the team

Class Actions and Collective Actions

Our lawyers have years of experience in employment class and collective actions and multiple-plaintiff litigation, including:

wage and hour, discrimination and other workplace-related disputes, including class claims for lost benefits under ERISA
discrimination claims based on race, gender and national origin
stock drop cases under employee stock plans
wage and hour collective actions

We efficiently manage the discovery and data management challenges presented by class or collective actions with resources that often provide significant savings for our clients. We routinely defeat motions for class certification, obtain judgments against named plaintiffs and obtain dismissals of class and collective actions.

Meet the team

Immigration

We provide advice on immigration issues across an array of industries, including energy, utilities, medical devices, technology, bio-medical, religious organizations, and healthcare. We offer comprehensive legal guidance on:

non-immigrant and immigrant visas for foreign employees
audits, inquiries and investigations by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL)
US labor and immigration laws in the hiring, retention and management of domestic workforces
compliance with US and foreign labor and immigration laws in the transfer of employees between domestic and international subsidiaries
E-2 and EB-5 investor options for raising capital and obtaining lawful permanent residence

Meet the team

OSHA

Our lawyers assist employers in responding to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections and other inquiries. We represent employers in contested citation proceedings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and its administrative law judges. We assist with occupational safety and health self-auditing, including both compliance and best practices auditing, and provide day-to-day advice concerning compliance questions that arise.

Our team has experience dealing with a wide variety of OSHA standards as well as many General Duty Clause, and has been involved in more than a dozen fatality or multiple fatality OSHA cases at either the inspection or contested citation stage.

Meet the team

Unions

Union workforces present unique challenges for employers. Bracewell’s labor and employment team has the depth and experience to assist clients with a multitude of potential issues pertaining to union avoidance, campaigns and elections, unfair labor practice conflicts and collective bargaining.

Our lawyers have a deep understanding of state and federal regulations dealing with traditional labor issues and those governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We regularly create effective employment contracts with enforceable non-compete covenants, anti-raiding provisions, arbitration clauses and confidentiality agreements.

Meet the team

We help employers balance the need to attract and retain key employees with the protection of valuable proprietary information and intellectual property. Our lawyers identify risks relating to information, customers, employees and contractors and to recommend strategies to secure the greatest protections possible.

When former employees or contractors violate the terms of these agreements or policies, we institute litigation and take swift action to minimize potential losses through a variety of legal options, including assertions of rights, demand letters, cease and desist instructions, temporary restraining orders, and preliminary and permanent injunctions.

Meet the team

Our lawyers have years of experience in employment class and collective actions and multiple-plaintiff litigation, including:

wage and hour, discrimination and other workplace-related disputes, including class claims for lost benefits under ERISA
discrimination claims based on race, gender and national origin
stock drop cases under employee stock plans
wage and hour collective actions

We efficiently manage the discovery and data management challenges presented by class or collective actions with resources that often provide significant savings for our clients. We routinely defeat motions for class certification, obtain judgments against named plaintiffs and obtain dismissals of class and collective actions.

Meet the team

We provide advice on immigration issues across an array of industries, including energy, utilities, medical devices, technology, bio-medical, religious organizations, and healthcare. We offer comprehensive legal guidance on:

non-immigrant and immigrant visas for foreign employees
audits, inquiries and investigations by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL)
US labor and immigration laws in the hiring, retention and management of domestic workforces
compliance with US and foreign labor and immigration laws in the transfer of employees between domestic and international subsidiaries
E-2 and EB-5 investor options for raising capital and obtaining lawful permanent residence

Meet the team

Our lawyers assist employers in responding to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections and other inquiries. We represent employers in contested citation proceedings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and its administrative law judges. We assist with occupational safety and health self-auditing, including both compliance and best practices auditing, and provide day-to-day advice concerning compliance questions that arise.

Our team has experience dealing with a wide variety of OSHA standards as well as many General Duty Clause, and has been involved in more than a dozen fatality or multiple fatality OSHA cases at either the inspection or contested citation stage.

Meet the team

Union workforces present unique challenges for employers. Bracewell’s labor and employment team has the depth and experience to assist clients with a multitude of potential issues pertaining to union avoidance, campaigns and elections, unfair labor practice conflicts and collective bargaining.

Our lawyers have a deep understanding of state and federal regulations dealing with traditional labor issues and those governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We regularly create effective employment contracts with enforceable non-compete covenants, anti-raiding provisions, arbitration clauses and confidentiality agreements.

Meet the team