McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Maria C. Rodriguez advises US and international corporations with regard to employment law compliance and mergers and acquisitions, and defends employment cases and class action litigation. She serves as the global co-head of McDermott Will & Schulte's Employment Practice Group and as the co-head of the firm's Media, Entertainment & Sports practice. In addition to her leadership roles, Maria is a trusted advisor to clients helping them avoid or resolve disputes and protect resources through proactive and strategic planning. Maria is experienced working with clients in the sports, media and entertainment, technology, food and restaurant, airline, transportation and distribution, healthcare, and fashion industries.

Maria advises on and defends against class, collective, representative and individual claims arising under state and federal employment laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Her litigation experience includes wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of employment contract, unlawful business practices, non-solicitation, trade secrets and other employment-related cases. She has successfully litigated dismissals by way of, early motions to dismiss, summary judgment and leveraging cases early to produce nuisance value resolutions. At trial, she has produced wins in multiple-plaintiff wage-and-hour, retaliation, discrimination, and wrongful termination cases and achieved a defense verdict in a high-profile, eight-week jury trial involving UNRUH civil rights claims brought by 26 plaintiffs against eight defendants.

Maria has extensive knowledge in the complexities involved in doing business in California, across the United States, and abroad, and her fluency in Spanish supports her work with Spanish and Latin America based clients. She defends employers in proceedings before governmental agencies, such as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the California Labor Commissioner, the US Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and city and state government agencies that enforce employment.

Dr. Thomas Gennert advises national and international companies on all aspects of individual and collective employment law as well as on Corporate Governance matters and compliance-related questions.

He advises executive boards, managing directors, supervisory boards, and other corporate bodies on the preparation of compensation systems, the negotiation of service and termination agreements, on liability issues, and in the area of corporate co-determination.

Thomas is working in the context of internal investigations and on employee data privacy aspects.

He also represents clients in employment law disputes in court and in arbitration proceedings.

Thomas regularly publishes articles on employment law aspects and is a lecturer at the Governance Academy.

Before joining McDermott, he worked for an international law firm in Düsseldorf and New York.

Jilali Maazouz advises US, European, Asian, Canadian, Middle Eastern and North African multinational corporations on the labor and employment aspects of their French and transactional commercial and corporate transactions, as well as on their restructuring plans, reductions in force, separation agreements, workplace policies, due diligence investigations, audits, top executives' compensation and benefits packages and mobility, and employment contracts engineering. Jilali also focuses his practice on commercial disputes and international trade matters. Jilali represents clients in negotiations, alternative-dispute resolution proceedings and litigation, in a range of civil, commercial, criminal and administrative matters.

Jilali counsels businesses on the employment aspects of domestic and transnational commercial and corporate transactions, such as contracts, workplace policies and best practices, termination and separation agreements, discrimination, harassment and breaches of restrictive covenants. He provides guidance with respect to due diligence investigations, audits, restructuring plans and reductions in force, as well as strikes and other collective conflicts related to organized labor.

Jilali also helps clients identify opportunities and navigate obstacles that arise when trading internationally.

Joseph (Joe) Mulherin focuses his practice on employment class action litigation, with a focus on defending employers against wage-and-hour and employment discrimination lawsuits. Joe has successfully defended clients from a wide variety of industries, including health services, banking, finance, retail, manufacturing, hospitality, staffing, technology, logistics, and construction.

Joe also has deep experience representing employers in federal and state governmental agency matters, including investigations by the US Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as their state counterpart agencies.

Leveraging his intricate knowledge of the law and extensive litigation experience, Joe regularly counsels clients on best employment policies and practices and mitigation strategies. His advice takes into account not only the requirements of the law, but clients’ unique business needs and potential exposure.

Joe frequently advises on wage-and-hour policies and practices relating to employee overtime classification, timekeeping, rounding, meal and rest periods, travel time, donning and doffing, on-call time, and handheld devices. He also has considerable experience advising clients on discipline and termination decisions, leave laws, independent-contractor classification, wage payment and vacation laws, commissions and bonuses, and web accessibility for disabled individuals.

Joe is a highly regarded writer and speaker on a broad range of employment law topics.

Brian Mead is an employment litigator and transactional advisor who leads McDermott’s employee mobility practice. Clients call upon Brian for his substantial experience prosecuting and defending employee mobility, restrictive covenant, and trade secret litigation cases across various industries including private equity, healthcare, professional services, technology and manufacturing.

Brian regularly advises private equity firms and strategic buyers and sellers on the employment aspects of M&A transactions on both the buy-side and sell-side, assisting clients to understand and mitigate employment-relate risks and exposure. He is experienced in drafting employment agreements and multi-jurisdictional restrictive covenants, as well as termination and separation agreements, ranging from non-exempt employees to CEOs.

On a daily basis, Brian leverages his experience on non-compete and non-solicit agreements to advise clients a recommended course of action that aligns with their business needs and the requirements outlined by federal and state laws. He also advises employers on policies related to employee leaves of absence, discipline and performance issues, disability accommodation, structuring of restrictive covenants and independent contractor relationships.

Brian also provides regular counsel to employers on employee handbooks and policies, employee leaves of absence, discipline and performance issues, disability accommodation, structuring of restrictive covenants and independent contractor relationships. He is skilled in researching multi-jurisdictional employment issues and preparing memoranda explaining the nuances of these issues and providing a recommended course of action.

Brian Casillas focuses his practice on all aspects of employment litigation and counseling. He has experience in California and federal civil procedure including discovery, motion practice, defending depositions and negotiating settlements. He represents clients against claims under the Fair Employment & Housing Act, Labor Code, Cal/OSHA and Americans with Disabilities Act. Brian also advises corporate clients and individuals across various industries including technology, manufacturing, real estate and construction.

Brian was a certified law clerk for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in the Appellate Division and the Airport Courthouse Preliminary Hearing Unit. He also served as a judicial extern for the US Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California for the Honorable Robert Kwan.

During law school, Brian was a chief note and comment editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review and was the team coach for the Uvaldo Herrera Hispanic National Moot Court Team.

Melis Solaksubasi focuses her practice on employment law. She partners closely with employers on day-to-day compliance and strategic workforce decisions, advising on high-stakes matters such as wage-and-hour and worker classification issues, paid leave and accommodation laws, restrictive covenants, and employee relations matters.

Melis regularly supports private equity and public transactions, bringing a strong transactional perspective to employment diligence and deal-related counseling. Her transactional experience includes advising on workforce-related risks, executive and employee compensation and incentive arrangements, independent contractor structures, and post-closing workforce planning and integration considerations. She frequently advises foreign and multinational clients on US employment law considerations in cross-border transactions and US market entry. She is known for providing practical, business-oriented guidance that aligns employment considerations with broader transaction and business objectives.

Laurie A. Baddon focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling. She provides trusted and strategic advice to clients of all sizes, from family offices and high-net-worth individuals to Fortune 500 companies, on day-to-day employment-related issues to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. She advises clients on matters ranging from personnel management decisions, leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, workplace investigations, pre-litigation disputes, executive compensation, employment agreements, restrictive covenants, reductions in force, and workplace policies, procedures, and handbooks. She also conducts employment diligence in mergers and acquisitions of all sizes and advises buyers on workforce integration and risk mitigation post-closing.

Laurie defends employers in all stages of employment litigation including in class action and single plaintiff wage and hour lawsuits and in harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, misclassification, and breach of contract claims. She advocates for clients in federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including proceedings before the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Megan A. Lee focuses her practice on labor and employment matters.

While in law school, Megan served as a board member for the Womxn of Color Collective and graduated with Moot Court Honors.

Elvira Kras serves as a trusted strategic advisor to employers navigating complex workforce risk. She is known for guiding companies through high-stakes employment litigation where financial exposure, operational impact, and reputational considerations converge.

Employers regularly rely on Elvira to defend class and representative actions, including wage-and-hour and Private Attorneys General Act matters, misclassification disputes, and claims alleging harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. She brings a trial-ready mindset to every engagement, developing litigation strategies grounded in leverage, risk assessment, and commercial realism.

At the core of Elvira’s practice is disciplined advocacy informed by courtroom experience. She partners with leadership and in-house teams to design and implement tailored employment policies, conduct pay-practice and compliance reviews, and drive organizational change through management and harassment-prevention training shaped by real-world litigation outcomes. Whether defending bet-the-company cases or proactively mitigating exposure, Elvira delivers clear, pragmatic guidance to employers confronting their most consequential workforce challenges.

Alexander Randolph focuses his practice on all aspects of employment law. He has experience managing complex Private Attorney General Act and class action matters as well as litigating single plaintiff discrimination, retaliation and harassment cases.

Alexander works closely with employers by providing guidance as they navigate complex workplace issues and regulations. He also has extensive traditional labor experience and has assisted employers through numerous cases before the National Labor Relations Board, representative elections and collective bargaining negotiations.