Labor & Employment Senior Associate or Counsel

McGuireWoods is seeking a talented Senior Associate or Counsel to join its Labor & Employment Department. This role offers the opportunity to work on sophisticated matters at the intersection of employment law, executive mobility, and corporate transactions.

McGuireWoods is seeking a talented Senior Associate or Counsel to join its Labor & Employment Department. This role offers the opportunity to work on sophisticated matters at the intersection of employment law, executive mobility, and corporate transactions.

This is not a traditional employment law role. Our team advises on high-stakes matters where workforce decisions directly affect enterprise value, leadership continuity, and transaction success. Working closely with McGuireWoods’ nationally ranked Healthcare, Private Equity, and M&A teams, you will counsel corporate clients and private equity sponsors on employment issues arising from acquisitions, divestitures, leadership transitions, restrictive covenant disputes, and post-closing integration.

In this role, you will serve as a trusted advisor to clients and a key resource to our deal teams on sophisticated employment matters requiring strategic thinking, seasoned judgment, and the ability to move quickly. This is an opportunity to build a practice that blends strategic advisory work, risk assessment, transactional counseling, and crisis management in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment where your contributions will be visible and valued.

Be advised this is a national search with a focus on the following markets: Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Pittsburgh, New York, Richmond, and Washington, DC

McGuireWoods, one of the world’s leading law firms, has provided legal solutions to corporate, individual and nonprofit clients since 1834. Along with excellent benefits, McGuireWoods offers our attorneys a competitive salary with hours and merit bonus opportunities and billable hours credit for pro bono work. Continually establishing new initiatives and enhancing existing efforts, we focus on meaningful support for our lawyers in their careers. Our Applicant Disclosures describe your rights. Our Privacy Statement describes how we will process and safeguard your personal data.

Salary:

The anticipated salary range for this position is $250,000-$450,000. Actual compensation will be determined based on several factors, including years and quality of relevant experience, substantive expertise, office location, and overall qualifications. This position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus.

Responsibilities

• Counseling clients on workplace policies, employment compliance, employee relations, and HR matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-and-hour issues
• Advising on restrictive covenant and wage misclassification issues, including the structuring, drafting, and enforceability of non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality obligations
• Leading employment-related due diligence in corporate and private equity transactions, identifying and prioritizing material legal and business risks, developing practical mitigation strategies, and supervising junior associates
• Independently managing complex employment matters and transactional workstreams, including identifying material risks, developing practical recommendations, coordinating with deal teams, and delivering timely, client-ready work product
• Partnering with senior executives and corporate leadership to advise on sensitive personnel, leadership transition, and governance issues where discretion and strategic judgment are essential
• Providing mentorship and developmental support to junior associates through substantive guidance, constructive feedback, and opportunities for increased responsibility on complex client matters.

Job Requirements

• At least seven years of relevant legal experience, including substantial experience in labor and employment counseling, employment-related transactional matters, or other sophisticated employment law matters:
  • Experience counseling clients across a wide range of employment issues, including discrimination and wage-and-hour matters
  • Experience advising employers on workplace policies, compliance, employee relations, and HR matters strongly preferred
  • Experience representing clients in government agency audits or investigations (e.g., DOL, EEOC) and strong issue-spotting skills
  • Experience with restrictive covenants and wage misclassification issues
  • A background in injunction or restrictive covenant litigation is valued, and experience with collective actions is helpful but not required
  • Experience advising on employment issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, private equity transactions, and post-closing integration strongly preferred
• Litigators with relevant employment experience who wish to transition to a counseling-focused practice are encouraged to apply
• Must have excellent academic credentials
• Exceptional analytical, communication, and organizational skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, supervise and mentor junior attorneys, and deliver high-quality work product under tight deadlines
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior business leaders, HR professionals, and in-house counsel, and to work effectively with corporate, private equity, and healthcare teams
• Demonstrated ownership mindset, intellectual curiosity, and ability to independently analyze complex legal and business issues, exercise sound judgment, and deliver practical, commercially oriented solutions
• Willingness and desire to work with innovative technology platforms. Our attorneys leverage Harvey AI to accelerate research, streamline document drafting, and enhance analytical work, allowing associates to focus on higher-value strategic thinking and client engagement
• Candidates must be admitted to practice in the jurisdiction to which they are applying