(June 22, 2012, Weil News)
International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges today announced that
Human Resource Executive Magazine and Lawdragon, a media company dedicated to the legal community, have selected two Weil attorneys for inclusion on the 2012 "100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" list: Jeffrey S. Klein and Gary D. Friedman. Additionally, Nicholas J. Pappas was named to Lawdragon's “Top 20 in Employee Benefits” list.
Weil partner Jeffrey Klein, Chair of the firm's Employment Practice, has been selected to Lawdragon's "Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" list each year since its inception in 2008. Mr. Klein represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment relations law, with a particular emphasis on class action litigation involving employment discrimination and healthcare benefits. His practice also focuses on trade secrets litigation and executive employment counseling. He has received numerous industry accolades for his work, including selection as one of the "500 Best Lawyers in the United States" in 2012 by Lawdragon, and he is ranked in Band 1 by
Chambers USA.
Gary Friedman represents management in all aspects of labor and employment law, and has extensive expertise in defending employers in complex employment discrimination and wage/hour class and collective actions. Mr. Friedman also frequently litigates trade secrets and restrictive covenant cases and has handled numerous employment arbitrations, particularly before FINRA. He has consistently been ranked by
Chambers USA and
The Legal 500 as a leader in the employment field, and is a frequent speaker and writer on industry issues.
In addition to securing two attorneys on the national Top 100 list, Weil's Nicholas Pappas was named to Lawdragon's “Top 20 in Employee Benefits” list, which features the 20 leading practitioners in the area of Employee Benefits and ERISA. Mr. Pappas works on complex ERISA matters as a partner in the firm's Employment Litigation practice group. More specifically, Mr. Pappas focuses on the defense of ERISA class actions challenging the administration of health care benefit plans, 401(k) plans and defined benefit plans. In these matters, he regularly litigates and counsels on sophisticated legal issues arising in ERISA litigation, including preemption, standing, exhaustion, fiduciary status, disclosure obligations, withdrawal liability, plan termination, and benefit accrual.
Attorneys in Weil's Employment Litigation Group specialize in high stakes class action defense in the discrimination, wage and hour and ERISA areas and other complex employment litigation and arbitration matters. Weil's employment lawyers are frequently retained to advise corporate boards, board committees and senior management in connection with internal employment-related investigations and on other sensitive issues that go to the core of their clients' business. They also speak and write extensively on topics in the employment field and work closely with clients to develop internal procedures and protocols to minimize litigation exposure.
The Top 100 "Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" list is developed by Lawdragon, a new media company that publishes on-line legal news and features for lawyers and clients, in partnership with
Human Resource Executive magazine. Attorneys were selected on the basis of curriculum-vitae analyses, evaluations by clients and peers, and editorial research by Lawdragon staff.