Manesh K. Rath

Manesh K. Rath: Attorney with Keller and Heckman LLP
Attorney Awards
  • Martindale-Hubbell Peer Reviewed
About Attorney Awards

Biography

Manesh Rath represents employers in a wide range of matters related to occupational safety and health law, litigation, wage and hour and class action litigation, and association law. He has extensive experience representing clients’ interests in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rulemakings. Employers, including some of the largest in the U.S., seek his representation in citations and investigations before federal OSHA and State Plans across the country.

Manesh has served as the lead amicus counsel on several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Staub v. Proctor Hospital and Vance v. Ball State University. On several occasions, Maneshhas testified before Congress on questions of occupational safety and health law.

Manesh has successfully defended employers nationwide in wage and hour and class action litigation. He also counsels and performs internal wage and hour audits for companies around the country.

His practice also includes counseling employers and manufacturers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility guidelines and federal motor carrier safety regulations under the Department of Transportation.

Manesh serves as general counsel and as OSHA or employment counsel to numerous trade and professional associations.

Manesh hosts Keller and Heckman’s OSHA 30/30 podcast and webinar, a monthly program for the past twelve years covering critical developing issues of occupational safety and health to a large community of safety and health professionals. For twelve years, he also hosted The Employment Law Aftermath with Manesh Rath, a quarterly briefing for in-house counsel.

Manesh is frequently quoted in or interviewed by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Smart Money Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, PBS's “Nightly Business Report,' WAVY-TV, and C-SPAN. He has served as a panelist and as a moderator for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) annual OSHA conference and as faculty for legal ethics coursework for the DC Bar’s continuing legal education program.

Awards

•The Best Lawyers in America : Employment Law - Management, 2017 - 2026
•The Best Lawyers in America : Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2016 - 2026
•The Best Lawyers in America : Employment Law - Management 'Lawyer of the Year' 2023 in Washington, DC
•Super Lawyers, Washington, DC, Employment and Labor, 2017 - 2025
•Smart CEO Magazine's Readers' Choice List of Legal Elite
•Lexology Client Choice Award for the District of Columbia in Labor, Employment, and Benefits, 2017

Insights & In the News

Steel Fabricator Wins Appeal in OSHA Lock-out/Tag-out Violations

02.26.2024
Publication

OSHA Turns Up the Heat on Heat Illness

10.22.2021
Publication

KH Litigation Alert: Lawsuits Over Employers' Mandatory COVID Vaccination Policies Begin ...

06.29.2021
Publication

Best Law Firms Features Keller and Heckman in 2026 Edition

Press Release
11.06.2025

Events

OSHA 30/30 - March 25, 2026

Webinar

03.25.2026

See more ›

Areas of Practice (16)

  • Employment and Labor
  • Food Litigation
  • Health & Safety Compliance Audit
  • Litigation
  • Occupational Safety and Health
  • Tobacco and E-Vapor
  • Trade and Professional Associations
  • Transportation
  • Chemicals and Plastics
  • Consumer Products and Retail
  • Digital Media, Technology, and Telecommunications
  • Energy, Infrastructure, and Transportation
  • Food & Life Sciences
  • Packaging
  • Tobacco and E-Vapor
  • Trade Associations

Education & Credentials

University Attended:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, B.S., Business Finance, 1991
Law School Attended:
College of William & Mary, J.D., 1995
Year of First Admission:
1995
Admission:
Virginia; District of Columbia; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court
Memberships:

Memberships

•Board of Advisors for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center
•Society for Human Resources (SHRM) Special Expertise Panel for Occupational Safety and Health
•Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Mentor Program for Hampton Roads (Co-Chair from 1996 to 1997)
•Board of Directors and General Counsel for the Northern Virginia Society for Human Resource Management (2002-2007)
•American Bar Association (ABA)

Reported Cases:
Representative Matters: Represented manufacturer in successful challenge of OSHA citation under the OSHA reporting rule; Represented employers in construction, manufacturing, transportation, retail, and distribution, in contesting OSHA citations in almost every OSHA region and OSHA-approved State Plans nationwide; Represented industries as lead amicus counsel before the U.S. Supreme Court in several landmark employment law cases; Represented nationwide employer on co-employment doctrine before the Tenth Circuit, resulting in landmark decision in favor of employers; Served as First chair in state and federal jury trials in favorable jury verdicts; Successfully obtained dismissal of claims against employers in state and federal claims at the initial motion to dismiss stage and in pretrial motions
ISLN:
910285283

Peer Reviews

4.9/5.0 (11 reviews)
Peer Reviewed

  • Legal Knowledge

    4.9/5.0

  • Analytical Capability

    4.9/5.0

  • Judgment

    5.0/5.0

  • Communication

    5.0/5.0

  • Legal Experience

    4.9/5.0

  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Managing Partner on 10/15/13 in Environmental Compliance

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Other Legal Professional on 10/07/13 in Administrative Law

    Manesh is very knowledgeable and has fantastic analytical skills.

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 10/07/13 in Employment Defense

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Other Law Firm Position on 10/04/13 in Occupational Safety and Health

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a General Counsel on 10/04/13 in Labor Law

    Exceptional service and legal knowledge, highest ethics.

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a General Counsel on 10/04/13 in Employment Law

    Manesh is our outside counsel for all employment and litigation matters, and is an outstanding attorney. We also consult with him on all of our litigation matters. He is extremely ethical, exceptionally competent and I would trust his judgment on a... Read more

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 10/04/13 in Complex Business Litigation

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 10/04/13 in OSHA

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 10/04/13 in Civil Litigation

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  • 5.0/5.0 Rated by a Partner on 10/04/13 in Employment Law

    Excellent lawyer, very good speaker on employment law topics.

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Peer reviews submitted prior to 2008 are not displayed.

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