Press Release

Addition of Michael Weil Expands Morgan Lewis’s California Employment Practice

Monday, June 28, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO, June 28, 2021: Morgan Lewis is expanding its top-tier employment practice in California by adding Michael Weil, an employment litigator who for more than two decades has handled a wide range of employment matters, including class actions and high-stakes trade secrets, employee mobility, and restrictive covenant disputes. Michael, who arrives from Orrick, is resident in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices.

“We are excited to welcome a senior, experienced employment litigator to our deep labor and employment team in California,” Firm Chair Jami McKeon said. “Michael’s representation of clients in their most sophisticated employment disputes matches well with the scope of our practice in the financial services, technology, insurance, and retail sectors in Northern California, in particular.”

Michael’s practice spans a wide range of employment disputes, including class actions asserting multimillion dollars in damages, complex single-plaintiff matters, and high-stakes noncompete and trade secrets disputes arising from a variety of industries, including life sciences, technology, retail, and financial services, throughout the United States. He also regularly advises clients on independent contractor status matters; wage and hour issues; Private Attorneys General Act lawsuits; and disputes alleging wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and compensation matters.

“The California employment legal landscape has seen many changes stemming from the pandemic and regulatory and legislative updates,” said Grace Speights, head of Morgan Lewis’s global labor and employment practice. “Michael will join a team of 80 labor and employment lawyers across five California offices to help companies manage the state’s increasingly complex legal, compliance, and human resources challenges.”

With more than 375 lawyers and other professionals throughout the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Morgan Lewis’s labor, employment, executive compensation, and employee benefits practitioners help employers around the world navigate the constantly changing local laws and regulations governing the workplace. Morgan Lewis partners with clients to proactively identify risks and develop strategies and solutions to help employers avoid litigation and other employee disputes; litigate matters ranging from administrative charges to thorny single-plaintiff cases to bet-the-company class actions; provide due diligence and advice on workforce-related obligations and considerations in transactional matters; and help employers acquire talent internationally, move employees globally, and manage a global workforce.