Practice Areas & Industries: Porter & Hedges, L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

You do the right thing, but still can be sued

Your relationship with your employees is crucial to building the future of your business. You have a strong commitment to honesty and fairness in the workplace. And yet your company can still find itself in trouble by unwittingly running afoul of one of the many complex federal and state laws that govern the employment relationship—or by facing an unsupported allegation of misconduct.

You know that the future of your business depends on identifying the risks that can become employment law problems, and on resolving problems that do occur in the way that best protects your company's interests.

You comply with the law, but still face investigation

An alphabet soup of laws and regulations defines the rights of your employees: ADA, EEO, FMLA, OSHA. You can face inspections or investigations by the federal and state agencies that enforce them. They're looking for mistakes, and any mistake could be costly—not just in possible violations or litigation, but also in terms of the time and effort you and your managers will have to spend in cleaning up problems caused by non-compliance.

Services Available

You need Porter & Hedges

Our employment lawyers will work closely with your managers and human resources professionals to develop a solid understanding of your employment issues and policies. We'll then craft customized solutions to ensure compliance with national and state labor laws, minimize disputes with employees, and maximize strategic advantage if litigation is necessary. We stress creative planning and aggressive advocacy for every client.

Counseling: Clients get customized policies and help implementing them

The best approach to employment problems is to address them early. Our lawyers will help you develop and implement sound strategies for administering your personnel relationships in a way that identifies potential problems before they create liability. Our lawyers know the right questions to ask about your current compliance policies, in order to find areas that may be out of date or need improvement.

We can help you eliminate the problems, and avoid the risk. The key to that is developing personnel policies that meet all legal requirements and minimize your likelihood of employment-related claims and lawsuits. We can review and revise your existing policies and procedures, or create a new employee handbook for your company from scratch. Then we'll help you and your managers effectively implement your policies, making sure they become part of everyday business practices.

Litigation: Clients benefit from vigorous advocacy

In today's environment, even the best-prepared employer may face an employment-related claim or lawsuit. If that occurs, our lawyers are fully prepared to defend your rights.

We have extensive experience representing employers in investigations and administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor, the EEOC, the Texas Commission on Human Rights and the Texas Workforce Commission. We also provide tough and aggressive, but cost-effective defense against employment-related claims in state and federal courts throughout Texas.  We help you protect your competitive position by representing you in litigation over employment, non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality and separation agreements.

Our lawyers are skilled at handling the time-sensitive injunctions and restraining orders that often are important parts of these disputes, and have defended the interests of employers on either side of the controversy—seeking to enjoin former employees from doing harm, or to free new employees from unreasonable restraint.

Types of employment issues for counseling and litigation

• Employment discrimination
• Harassment
• Retaliation and wrongful discharge
• Title VII, ADA and FMLA compliance
• Severance arrangements and employment contracts
• Non-competition and non-solicitation agreements
• Plant closings and mass layoffs
• Wage and hour issues
• Workplace privacy (including drug, alcohol and disease testing)

Representative examples of the solutions we provide

• Serving as investigative counsel for numerous employers of various sizes in formal and informal discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints.
• Representing public and privately owned companies in administrative overtime and back pay proceedings.
• Defending companies and individual management employees against charges of sexual harassment and discrimination.
• Advising companies on the implementation and application of a drug enforcement program, including subsequent union arbitration and state court litigation.

Nothing in business is more personal than the employer-employee relationship. Employers who understand the law and strive for compliance have the best chances of avoiding employment problems and of successfully defending themselves should problems become lawsuits. Porter & Hedges lawyers have the skill and insight to provide that kind of assurance to your company.