Outten & Golden LLP’s Class Action Practice Group and its WARN Act Practice Group have been selected as 2017 Practice Groups of the Year in the categories of Employment and Bankruptcy, respectively. The awards go to law firms that have won particularly impressive victories during the year.
“I am very proud that Law 360 has awarded this special recognition to two of our Practice Groups,” said Wayne N. Outten, the managing partner of Outten & Golden, the largest employee-side employment law firm in the United States. “Notably, Outten & Golden is the only employee-side firm recognized in either of those categories. Adam Klein started our Class Action Practice Group in 2000 and was joined by Justin M. Swartz in 2003; they have built one of the largest and best employee-side class action practices in the United States, with an extraordinary team of talented and dedicated lawyers. And, over the past ten years, René Roupinian and Jack Raisner have built our WARN Act Practice Group into the premier practice representing employees in WARN Act cases.”
Adam T. Klein, the deputy managing partner at Outten & Golden, said, “We are delighted to be recognized by Law360 as a 2017 Practice Group of the Year recipient for two of our Practice Groups. The honor is due to the hard work and dedication of the lawyers, paralegals, and non-lawyer staff of the entire firm.”
The Employment Practice Group award is based on two major victories during 2017 on behalf of veterans under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, plus a favorable jury verdict in an FLSA misclassification case in Connecticut. Peter Romer-Friedman was the lead lawyer on the USERRA cases and Jahan Sagafi was the lead lawyer on the FLSA case.
The Bankruptcy Practice Group award is centered largely on the firm’s prosecution of a precedent-setting case to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the Court struck a blow to the trend of structured settlements by requiring Bankruptcy Courts to honor the absolute priority rule for creditors. “Most of our [WARN] cases, more than 90 percent, are litigated in bankruptcy court,” said Jack Raisner. “We have the experience of the deep bench at the firm with respect to employment law, but we also have the experience in the bankruptcy court.”
From Law360: “Law360 selects practice groups with an eye toward landmark matters and general excellence, Law360 selected 157 winning groups across 34 practice areas. In the awards program’s seventh year, the Practice Groups of the Year hailed from 80 law firms and rose to the top of 619 submissions.”
Outten & Golden focuses on representing employees in employment and related workplace matters. Its class action practice group handles cases involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers’ rights issues. The firm also represents individual employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. In addition, the firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues.
Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & Queer Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act.
Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
For media inquiries, contact Managing Partner Wayne N. Outten at (212) 245-1000.