North America - United States • Labor and employment
DLA Piper LLP (US)
The labor and employment group at DLA Piper LLP (US) is equipped to handle wage and hour, collective, and representative actions, as well as discrimination and COVID-related litigation. National practice lead Marc Katz also acts as managing partner at the Dallas office; his broad practice encompasses trade secret and unfair competition litigation, fiduciary duty and partnership disputes, and class action. In New York, Mary Dollarhide is routinely involved in discrimination, harassment, and breach of contract claims; Joseph Piesco, also in New York, regularly works on wage and hour class actions. San Diego-based Julie Dunne has knowledge of private attorney general representative actions under Californian law and the Fair Labor Standards Act. In New Jersey Brian Kaplan disputes experience includes the enforcement of restrictive covenants, and tort and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Partner Troy Valdez joined the team from Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP in April 2023.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team is incredibly thoughtful and thorough. I'm also impressed with how they are extremely direct and upfront with their recommendations. Generally, I've been able to trust their guidance without feeling like they are doing things that are unnecessary or impractical.’
‘Joe Piesco is very involved, hands-on and thorough. In every instance he has been prepared and most importantly always had my best interests in mind. He's got a great group of people working with him as well, which has made developing plans with the aim of resolving issues very straightforward.'
‘Joe Piesco is a go-to lawyer. Bet the company on Piesco - he is that good!’
‘A wide range of experience across the employment dispute spectrum and outstanding responsiveness.’
‘Joe Piesco is an outstanding litigator and strategist. He is highly responsive and is our go-to on all employment-related matters. Joe is as good at helping us avoid litigation, as he is in resolving disputes.’
Key clients
- Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.
- 7-Eleven, Inc.
- Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc.
- Patagonia
- San Francisco Health Plan
- Anthropic
- Spotline
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.
- The Royal Bank of Canada
- Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
Work highlights
- Defended The Human Rights Campaign and The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) in a high-profile race discrimination lawsuit filed by its former President.
- Obtained a trial victory on behalf of Sands Corporation in a federal court lawsuit brought by five former pilots against Sands Aviation, the company’s in-house aviation group.
- Defeated class certification on behalf of New York University in a putative class action brought by a student plaintiff seeking a refund of tuition and fees due to NYU’s transition to remote learning in Spring 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Marc Katz