14 Human Resource Executive®
The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys
The following list, in alphabetical order, was prepared exclusively for Human Resource Executive® by Lawdragon, a Los Angeles-based networking site for lawyers and
clients. In addition to the initial 70, three lists of 10 each are featured after them, specifying the most powerful employment attorneys for ERISA law, labor law and immigration
law, respectively. All 100 attorneys were selected on the basis of curriculum-vitae analyses, evaluations by clients and peers, and reporting by the Lawdragon staff.
Years in
Name/Title
Law Firm
City
Law School
Practice
Practice Specialty
Top
100
Top 100 Employment Attorneys continued on page 16
Warnings from the Top
Cover Story
Nancy L. Abell
Partner, Chair of Employment Law
Department
Paul Hastings
Los Angeles
UCLA
30
Employment litigation and advice, including class-actions, wrongful discharge
and discrimination; and collective bargaining
Rosemary Alito
Partner
K&L Gates
Newark, N.J.
Rutgers
31
Employment litigation
R. Lawrence Ashe Jr.
Partner
Ashe, Rafuse & Hill
Atlanta
Harvard
42
Employment class-actions and collective actions, with additional focus on
employment testing and selection issues
Wilber H. Boies
Partner
McDermott Will &
Emery
Chicago
University of
Chicago
31
Employee-benefits litigation and related counseling, defending
against retirement plan and welfare benefits class-actions nationwide
Barbara B. Brown
Partner
Paul Hastings
Washington
Yale
38
Employment litigation, with class-action, executive employment and
government-agency investigation expertise
Joseph T. Clees
Shareholder
Ogletree Deakins
Phoenix
Villanova
25
Labor and employment
William L. Cole
Partner
Mitchell Silberberg &
Knupp
Los Angeles
Stanford
32
Employment litigation, with a focus on class-actions, and traditional labor law,
including NLRB proceedings
John J. Coleman III
Partner
Burr & Forman
Birmingham,
Ala.
Duke
28
Class and individual discrimination, FLSA, NLRA and OSHA litigation
def