Approach
The employer-employee relationship is an important and complex business relationship. Michael Best & Friedrich LLP's Labor and Employment Relations Practice Group is a national practice providing leading-edge advice and creative solutions to guide businesses as they make employment decisions, set policies and plan for the future.
Attorneys
Michael Best's Labor and Employment Relations Practice Group is one of the largest in the Midwest. The attorneys in this group enjoy close partnerships with clients, focusing on litigation prevention and the achievement of strategic objectives. The attorneys are recognized by their clients and peers as among the best and most respected management-side labor, employment and employee benefits attorneys in the country. According to the 2010 issue of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Michael Best’s Labor and Employment Relations Practice Group “retains its preeminent position in the market thanks to the supreme quality of the dedicated attorneys and litigators that comprise the team” which has “great breadth of experience” and the attorneys are “leaders in their specialties.” This group again ranked number one in Wisconsin.
Clients
Our clients are some of the most innovative and ground breaking business, public sector and non-profit organizations in the nation. Their workforces are large and small, white-and blue-collar, unionized and union-free. Our attorneys provide a range of services covering all aspects of labor, employment and employee benefits law.
Practice
In a practice group that values skill, experience and judgment, we encourage counseling with clients at the earliest stages of employment-related decision-making. We are committed to helping our clients develop workable employment policies, practices and procedures consistent with existing and evolving legal requirements.
We assist our clients in all phases of their employee relations, including the complex legal issues that can arise when businesses are bought and sold. Our practice includes employment-relations counseling, planning, training; reviewing and drafting handbooks and other employment policies; state and federal court employment litigation, appellate practice, and class actions; and practice before the NLRB, EEOC, OSHA, OFCCP and other state and federal administrative agencies. We cover all areas of labor and employment law from discrimination, occupational health and safety, and wage-hour issues to affirmative action, and continue to grow a significant immigration law practice.
Our attorneys provide collective bargaining, grievance and interest arbitration services to those clients whose employees are unionized. We also have an active practice helping our non-union clients maintain their union-free status as unions continue to become more sophisticated and aggressive in their organizing efforts.
In all aspects of our employment practice, we strive to provide sound advice and creative solutions while maintaining highest levels of responsiveness and communication possible.
International Affiliation: Employment Law Alliance
Michael Best holds the honor of being the only Wisconsin member of the Employment Law Alliance (ELA), the world’s largest integrated, global practice network. Premier, independent law firms—distinguished for their practice in employment and labor law—comprise the ELA. More than 3,000 lawyers across the network represent every jurisdiction in the United States and in 100 countries. Scott Beightol, Chair of Michael Best’s Management Committee, serves as a Director of ELA.
We work closely with other ELA members to ensure that our clients’ legal matters are handled seamlessly wherever they conduct business. The ELA network provides a smarter, more efficient and effective alternative to using a single multi-state or multi-national law firm. Because the ELA consists of lawyers worldwide, there is truly coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you need assistance in the middle of the night, or need to move quickly on an international labor issue, ELA lawyers are there to assist.