Overview
CHICAGO (June 22, 2015) — International law firm McDermott Will & Emery announced today that leading labor and employment lawyer Kristin E. Michaels has joined the Firm’s Trial Practice Group in Chicago. Michaels was previously a partner at another AmLaw100 firm, where she gained prominence as a first-chair trial lawyer in complex employment and labor matters.
Michaels has a robust complex labor and employment litigation practice, representing clients in the hospitality, media, retail, telecommunications, healthcare and utility industries, among others.
“Kristin is an outstanding litigator and we are glad to bring her on board,” said Lazar P. Raynal, McDermott’s Firm-wide head of McDermott’s Trial Practice Group. “Her employment litigation experience and deep knowledge of private equity and corporate transactions will make her a highly valued advisor to clients and a mentor to our younger lawyers.”
Michaels has litigated before the National Labor Relations Board, the US District Courts, the US Court of Appeals and arbitral tribunals in cases involving a broad range of labor and employment issues. She has also served as chief negotiator and as lead strategic advisor in numerous collective bargaining negotiations, including on behalf of companies in sale or merger situations and other forms of corporate transactions.
Her arrival aligns with McDermott’s international growth strategy, which has led to more than 20 new hires at the partner level this year, including the addition of Trial partner Will Stute in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. Ms. Michaels is a 1991 graduate of Northwestern University Law School and is a member of the American Bar Association, as well as a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
McDermott’s Trial Practice Group delivers full litigation service from resident trial partners and associates throughout its U.S. offices. It is regularly engaged in all aspects of civil, regulatory and white-collar criminal defense litigation in U.S. and international forums. McDermott’s Trial Practice Group includes several members of the American College of Trial Lawyers, former Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Department of Justice lawyers, as well as former members of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Commerce. More than 50 McDermott lawyers have previously served as judicial law clerks.
About McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.