Morgan Lewis Expands Labor & Employment Practice into Texas
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date:
12/10/2007 -
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Press Releases
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—Led by a team of veteran attorneys with national experience and strong Texas ties, group extends firm's capacity to provide coast-to-coast service to clients—
DALLAS, December 10, 2007: Responding to business growth and rapidly expanding employer needs in Texas and the south and central United States, Morgan Lewis today announced the addition of six seasoned labor and employment partners to its Dallas office. Led by Ronald E. Manthey, a veteran employment attorney with nearly 30 years' experience, the group now joining Morgan Lewis has been working together in the Lone Star State for a decade—most recently in the Dallas office of international law firm Baker & McKenzie.
"We are thrilled to have Ron and his team joining us in Texas, where their long-standing community ties and reputation speak for themselves," said Francis M. Milone, Chairman of the Firm. "By leveraging our recent growth in other practice areas in both Houston and Dallas, as well as the success of the firm's Chicago office, this addition complements our efforts to expand our substantive presence well beyond the East and West coasts."
The new hires join Morgan Lewis's Labor & Employment Practice, which was ranked the 2006 "Labor & Employment Litigation Department of the Year" by The American Lawyer magazine. The group focuses on representing Fortune 500 companies, including leaders in the financial services, retail, manufacturing, transportation, and technology sectors. Its expansion builds upon the firm's existing Texas capabilities in employee benefits, ESOP, intellectual property, litigation, outsourcing, and technology-enabled transactions law.
"The firm now has more than 278 labor and employment attorneys serving clients across 14 offices in the United States and Europe," added Steven R. Wall, Leader of the Labor & Employment Practice at Morgan Lewis. "Our new Texas team shares our practice's unique focus, depth, and talent in labor and employment law. Paired with mutual institutional client relationships and a shared commitment to superior client service, these attributes make them a natural fit for our practice."
Among the clients currently served by both the Texas team and Morgan Lewis attorneys in other offices around the world are American Airlines, Citigroup, Blockbuster, and Frito-Lay. The firm's latest expansion into Texas will allow the Labor and Employment Practice to round out its coast-to-coast presence and serve south and central U.S. clients more directly by covering markets in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The six newest partners in the Labor & Employment Practice—who are joined by a team of five associates and three paralegals—are as follows:
Ronald E. Manthey, who has practiced law in Texas since 1983, leads the team. He has litigated in all areas of employment law claims, having represented employers in numerous employment law jury and bench trials in state and federal court. He has argued before numerous courts of appeals and has represented several Fortune 500 companies in class actions involving sex, age, race, and national origin discrimination. Ron has also litigated and tried class actions involving FLSA and state wage claims and ERISA fiduciary claims in multiple states and federal circuits. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1979, and subsequently served for four years in the Judge Advocate General's Office, where he became Chief of the Labor and General Law Division.
Ann Marie Painter has practiced in Texas since 1992 and joined the Texas employment litigation team in 1994. She focuses her practice on defending employers in employment litigation matters, both in class and individual plaintiff suits, including wage and hour compliance, all categories of alleged discrimination and harassment and retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, retaliation, and unfair competition. Ann Marie also focuses on advice concerning business reorganization and corporate compliance. She graduated from the University of Tennessee Law School in 1992.
Joel S. Allen has practiced in Oklahoma and Texas since 1991 and joined the team in 1998. He focuses his practice on representing employers in defense of claims under Title VII, state discrimination law, FLSA, ADA, ADEA, and traditional labor laws. He has focused recently on exemption and off-the-clock claims under the FLSA in several industries. He graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1991.
Paulo B. McKeeby has practiced in Texas since 1992 and joined the team in 1996. He regularly serves as a litigator on behalf of management in connection with all types of employment disputes, including claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, and numerous state statutes. Paulo has extensive experience in unfair competition claims in several states. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1992.
Ellen L. Perlioni has practiced in Texas since 1995 and joined the group in 1997. She has represented employers in numerous employment law cases in state and federal court, as well as in arbitrations and administrative hearings and trials, and has handled matters involving gender discrimination, race discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and disability. Ellen has focused recently on ERISA fiduciary claims. She graduated from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1995.
Melissa M. Hensley has also practiced in Texas since 1995 and joined the group in 1997. She has a general employment litigation practice and has represented employers in numerous employment law cases in state and federal court. Melissa has extensive litigation experience in workplace injury claims as well as in ADA and leave cases. She graduated from the University of San Diego Law School in 1995.
They join a team of Morgan Lewis attorneys who counsel and represent clients across a broad array of labor and employment matters, including complex employment litigation; race, sex and disability discrimination; harassment; wrongful discharge; overtime lawsuits; Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA); and noncompete agreements.
About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis is a global law firm with more than 1,300 lawyers in 22 offices located in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Houston, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information about Morgan Lewis, please visit www.morganlewis.com.