Brian McDermott

As a service-oriented labor and employment lawyer who represents companies and organizations on a national basis, I help solve my clients' human resource problems and address issues arising from the employer-employee relationship. I handle both employment litigation and labor. With the bench support of my 1100+ colleagues in our over 60 offices at Jackson Lewis, we can effectively and efficiently assist management in all facets of the employment relationship on a global basis. For over 30 years, I have dedicated myself to representing and providing advice to public and private employers on a variety of labor and employment issues, including the FMLA, ADA, Title VII, ADEA, ERISA, FLSA, NLRA, covenant not to compete/trade secret matters, wage claims, and wrongful discharge. I have represented employers in federal and state courts, labor arbitrations, and administrative agencies (including the EEOC, the DOL, the NLRB, and OSHA) throughout the United States. I also have argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on multiple occasions. My experience includes single-plaintiff litigation and class and collective action matters. Because litigation is not always the desired approach to resolving issues, however, I devote a good portion of my time to litigation avoidance and counseling. To this end, I work with employers to provide valuable employment training in several vital areas, including sexual harassment, hiring/interviewing, employee terminations, union avoidance, diversity, ADA, and FMLA training. I also assist employers in developing employee handbooks, personnel policies, employment contracts, noncompete agreements, severance agreements, and other employment-related documents. I am fortunate to work in the fascinating field of labor and employment law and with remarkably impressive clients, business executives and representatives, and colleagues at Jackson Lewis.