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In Vault's Practice Area Resource Centers, among other things, we highlight Q&As from various attorneys employed at law firms who have ranked for prestige in the relevant practice area. In this series, we will highlight some answers from attorneys at ranked firms regarding what their typical day is like working in a given practice area. Today, we feature some answers from our Labor & Employment Practice Area Resource Center.
Felicia Davis, Partner—Paul Hastings: "There are no 'typical days' as an employment lawyer. I’m often working on multiple complex cases during the same day, constantly switching between different cases and clients. However, some of the common tasks I perform involve advising clients about difficult HR matters, preparing witnesses for depositions, and working with experts on data analysis. At Paul Hastings, we focus on client service and collaboration, so I am often working closely with my team—including mentoring junior attorneys from day one—to develop and implement litigation strategies."
Tristan Morales, Partner—O'Melveny: "My typical day really depends on which of the three buckets of work that I mentioned is front and center on that particular day. For example, one thing that is unique with our airline labor clients is that federal law requires that contract disputes go to experienced labor arbitrators in what are called system board arbitrations. When those are happening, they’re essentially trials that occur on a very expedited basis without a lot of discovery. In those cases, I’m getting ready to present opening statements and conduct direct examinations and cross examinations.
In contrast, our class action litigation work tends to be more long-standing matters, with complex strategic issues that evolve over a course of years. We may be getting ready for depositions, preparing for motion practice, or dealing with issues on appeal.
The Diversity Task Force work for clients can range from full audits of all of their policies to phone calls to discuss a specific set of policies or developments, or I can be dealing with litigation matters that can present a longer potential time frame."
Alexandra Stathopoulos, Partner—Orrick: "There really isn’t a typical day—some days I might spend the whole day taking a deposition, prepping a witness to testify, conducting a fact investigation or interviewing witnesses, negotiating a settlement at mediation, or appearing at court for a hearing. A day in the office might consist of a few hours of email; a couple of hours reviewing the work of associates on my team and strategizing about our cases; one or two calls with clients to provide counseling and advice on employment issues; calls with opposing counsel to meet and confer over various litigation issues; and (if I’m lucky) a few hours of focused work on briefs, preparing for a deposition or strategizing about substantive discovery responses."
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