At Littler, our unparalleled commitment to labor and employment law helps our clients navigate a complex business world with nuanced legal issues – building better solutions for their toughest challenges.
How do we do it? By harnessing our deep experience and expansive resources that are local everywhere. By recruiting a diverse team of the brightest minds and fostering a culture that celebrates original thinking. By disrupting the status quo with bold, groundbreaking innovation – all in service to our clients. Because at Littler, we’re fueled by ingenuity and inspired by you.
With a singular focus on labor and employment law, our team is better equipped to serve your business. Why? Because our experience is vast and our knowledge is deep. For more than 80 years, we’ve focused exclusively on labor and employment law. But we realize it’s not enough to know just the law – we have to know your business, too. By understanding your challenges and opportunities, we can tackle everything from simple questions to complex litigation needs with the same rigor and nuanced approach. And, we can respond to each of your questions – not just with an answer, but with your answer.
At Littler, unconventional thinking is our norm. We listen to our clients’ issues and respond with bold answers that not only address their needs but help shape the industry. So whether you’re a CLO facing compliance challenges in the financial services field or a higher education Human Resources leader with employee benefits questions; whether you’re a GC dealing with wage and hour issues in the retail space or a business leader of an energy company who needs help navigating international employment law – you’ve come to the right place.
“Littler is a great firm because of the depth of its resources and the talent of its lawyers. I can get any employment question answered – usually in the same day.”
– Littler Client
Economic times dictate company actions. Financial uncertainty can lead companies to close facilities and lay off workers, while an economic upturn can encourage acquisitions and mergers. The uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has further impacted employers’ restructuring decisions.
Labor shortages, other barriers to talent acquisition, and supply chain bottlenecks – to name just a few – create labor gaps that take their toll on companies. Equally impactful, major depressions in demand across the economy can create the opposite result and force closures and layoffs. In response, companies need to quickly react and implement business restructuring options. As we anticipate “what comes next,” companies may need to assess creative options for the problems that lie ahead.
Given the complexity and fluidity of U.S. immigration policies, companies need help navigating a maze of domestic enforcement regulations. Additionally, global migration raises its own distinct challenges involving legal, political, and cultural matters.
Littler’s attorneys respond boldly to those needs – from nuanced issues involving visa support and H1 waivers to employment discrimination in the immigration process. Our firm’s deep subject matter knowledge on all aspects of workplace law means that the advice provided on immigration topics considers the overall employment relationship, not just the specific immigration issues at hand. This approach to our legal services saves time and gets the best answers for clients.
We react quickly to urgent immigration concerns, including workplace raids and enforcement actions, and help employers meet deadlines and avoid the costly consequences of delay. Our firm’s global presence facilitates quick assembly of dedicated professionals who are well-positioned to obtain the client’s desired outcome.
Littler was founded in 1942 as a labor law firm, exclusively representing employers. Strategic labor relations counsel remains at the core of who we are today.
While we take pride in being the largest management-side labor law group in the world, we take even more pride in being trusted partners to companies that range from top global brands to those newer to complex labor relations issues.
Our depth of experience and ability to relate to leaders at every level of a company—from the factory or retail floor to the C-suite—is what distinguishes our offering.
Your Strategic Partner
Navigating today’s evolving labor laws can feel like being on a seesaw for employers, as increasingly fragmented and frequently changing legal precedent and administrative rules create significant uncertainty. Our team of over 250 labor attorneys understands current (and impending) legal, political, and industry trends—and is dedicated to helping employers achieve their business goals while mitigating legal and operational risks.
What’s more, our team—co-chaired by two leading women in labor law—reflects the diversity of today’s multicultural, multigenerational workforce. Our lawyers span all generations and comprise a variety of races, ethnicities, and genders, giving us a unique ability to serve our clients and their workforces.
In any organization, disputes arise that require resolution through formal proceedings such as lawsuits. But more and more companies use employment arbitration agreements to avoid costly litigation and the seemingly random results often associated with it. The expanding use of arbitration is a result of exploding wage and hour class and collective actions as employers search for better ways to address these massive, expensive, and disruptive cases more effectively. Empowering this trend, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld employment arbitration agreements as enforceable.
A survey by Bloomberg in 2021 reported that the number of employment disputes in arbitration rose by almost 66% from 2018 to 2020. An employee rights advocacy group estimates that 80% of Fortune 100 companies have used employment arbitration agreements since 2010. Littler’s Arbitration Practice Group continues to see strong use of arbitration by its clients of all sizes with positive results.
Despite several rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court upholding class and collective action waivers in arbitration agreements, and most recently a decision allowing for individual arbitration of claims under California’s Private Attorneys’ General Act, arbitral class waivers and arbitration agreements on the whole continue to face attacks from plaintiffs’ attorneys, unions, states, federal governmental agencies, and special interest groups.
