Leni D. Battaglia

Associate

Leni D. Battaglia is an associate in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. Mr. Battaglia's practice includes all facets of employment litigation defense in federal and state courts and in arbitration, including cases involving wage and hour laws; Title VII, ADA, Section 1981, and other antidiscrimination and antiretaliation laws; independent contractor classification; NLRA and other labor laws; ERISA and various contract claims; and employment-related torts. He represents employers in individual, class, and collective action litigation, and in administrative agency actions concerning federal, state, and city labor and employment statutes.

Mr. Battaglia also counsels employers on diverse employment-related issues, including antidiscrimination laws, employment agreements and new hire documentation, progressive guidance, separation agreements, leave and disability policies, employee handbooks, compensation policies, wage and hour compliance, independent contractor issues, and union-management relations. He regularly performs internal audits, trains management and human resources personnel, and develops proactive litigation-avoidance strategies across a variety of business units for clients in various industries.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Battaglia practiced labor and employment and immigration law at a large, nationally-recognized law firm.

Mr. Battaglia received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2005, where he served as notes and comments editor for the Connecticut Law Review, national competitor for the Moot Court Board, and on the executive board of the Public Interest Working Group. He also served as student lawyer with the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, representing indigent clients fleeing persecution abroad in complex litigation matters in federal court.

Mr. Battaglia received his B.A., magna cum laude, in International Studies from Old Dominion University Honors College in 2001. He conducted social science research in Brazil as a recipient of the prestigious Congressional David L. Boren Scholarship and was awarded Outstanding Student in 2001 by the University's College of Arts and Letters. Mr. Battaglia is conversational in Spanish and Portuguese.

Mr. Battaglia is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.