Ogletree Deakins is one of the nation's largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Our lawyers have a rich history representing employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries. We have substantial experience representing national, regional and locally owned and operated restaurant, hotel and casino companies. Since January 2010, more than 100 Ogletree attorneys around the country have handled thousands of matters for restaurant clients. Ogletree Deakins' Restaurant and Hospitality Practice is as diverse as the clients we serve.

The restaurant industry is a largely untapped resource for labor unions and third party organizations who continue to develop new strategies for infiltrating the workplace. We offer both offensive and defensive assistance with any third party disruption, including labor and employment issues that may arise. On the offensive side, we work with our clients to develop proactive employee relations strategies to minimize the risk of third party disruptions, unionization, workforce issues such as wage and hour compliance, and third party claims. On the defensive side, we assist with the creation and handling of corporate campaigns, responses to social justice initiatives, union organizing, strike preparations, advice on and engage in collective bargaining, handle labor arbitrations and NLRB proceedings, as well as the defense of discrimination claims before federal and state agencies, and lawsuits.

Locally, the Las Vegas office serves as primary labor and employment counsel for several national, regional and local restaurant, gaming, and hospitality clients. For years, the office has successfully handled dozens of union organizing campaigns, unit determination hearings, and unfair labor practice proceedings on behalf of numerous restaurant and hospitality industry clients. For nearly 15 years, members of the office have been integrally involved in the creation and ongoing implementation of national proactive employee relations and union avoidance programs, as well as programs to address social justice initiatives, for national restaurant and hospitality industry clients, including for companies ranging in size from a couple locations and 100 employees, to 400 locations and 25,000 employees, and to as many as 200,000 employees and more than 2,000 locations. We also regularly advise and represent clients on employment issues and claims locally, regionally and nationally. Additionally, Ogletree Deakins has more than 60 attorneys who devote all or a substantial percentage of their practice to workplace safety law. We are among a handful of law firms in the United States that earned a Band 1 ranking for Occupational Safety and Health in the Chambers USA 2023 Guide. Our OSH attorneys are highly experienced in handling OSHA inspections and negotiating favorable informal OSHA citation settlements. We counsel clients to help ensure compliance, advise on the development or enhancement of safety and health programs, and assist in the conduct of safety and health audits. Our group is known widely and respected for the knowledge, experience, relationships, and credibility of our attorneys and the exceptional level of service we provide to our clients throughout the country. The occupational safety and health (OSH)-related services we provide include:

•           Investigation of workplace accidents;

•           Effective handling of OSHA inspections and safety whistleblower complaints;

•           Negotiation and resolution of OSHA citations;

•           Litigation and trial of OSHA citation cases;

•           Advice and counseling to help ensure compliance;

•           Identification and adoption of best practices to improve safety and health performance;

•           Assistance with the conduct of safety and health audits; and

•           Assistance with benchmarking safety and health practices among peer companies or other industries.