National full-service employee-side law firm honored for a fourth consecutive year.
When Law360 included Outten & Golden LLP on its annual “Employment Practice Group of the Year” category in January 2019, it was a fitting tribute to the firm as it celebrated its 20th anniversary. Its unprecedented fourth consecutive appearance on this year’s list is a fitting start to Outten & Golden’s next decade.
Outten & Golden’s 70 lawyers work from offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. In 2020 they will open a fifth office in Los Angeles. As Law360 noted, they are “known for often taking on matters that involve novel employment law issues and high-profile parties.”
The firm provides full-service representation to employees at all levels of an organization and is highly regarded for outcomes it achieves in sexual assault, harassment, discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and other workplace disputes, as well as its successful efforts on behalf of executives and professionals involved in employment contract negotiations and separations, partnership and equity arrangements, and expatriate issues.
Equally respected for its accomplishments in class and collective actions, Outten & Golden has secured millions of dollars for large groups of employees in highly visible lawsuits alleging wage and overtime violations, illegal background checks, and widespread discrimination. Law360 cited several of the firm’s key achievements in these areas over the last year.
In March 2019, Outten & Golden had a lead role in settling a series of legal actions alleging that Facebook enabled advertisers to digitally discriminate against certain users based on race, age, and other protected categories. The resolution included Facebook’s agreement to overhaul its platform and implement new features to prevent unlawful discrimination in online employment, real estate, and credit ads.
In another triumph in 2019, Outten & Golden attorneys helped obtain conditional certification for a collective of more than 3,000 job candidates who alleged PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP engaged in age discrimination by rejecting their applications in favor of younger applicants. Additionally, in December 2018, the firm won conditional certification for tens of thousands of hourly retail workers in a wage-and-overtime lawsuit accusing Stage Stores Inc. of illegally forcing them to work off the clock without pay. And, in October 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal challenging class certification in an action alleging prison contractor Geo Group violated labor trafficking laws by forcing immigrants in a Colorado detention facility to perform work without proper compensation.
“We are tremendously proud to again earn the Practice Group of the Year honor from Law360,” said Adam T. Klein, the firm’s managing partner. “It is recognition of the immense talent of our people and our endless dedication to the valued clients who place their trust in us.”
Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. 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 matters. It also represents 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, and retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, and other systemic workers’ rights issues.
Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act.
Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.