Brian Z. Liss

Mr. Brian Z. Liss is a special counsel in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Liss' principal substantive practice areas are wage and hour counseling and litigation, Railway Labor Act arbitration and litigation, National Labor Relations Act compliance advice and defense of unfair labor practice charges, labor and employment law due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, and employment discrimination complex litigation.  Practice also includes advising clients regarding the labor and employment law ramifications of business transactions, negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements, and employment law counseling.

Mr. Liss has extensive experience arbitrating union grievances, litigating Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, and litigating Title VII, ADA, FMLA, and multi-plaintiff "hybrid" breach of contract/duty of fair representation cases.  Mr. Liss also has extensive experience representing and advising clients on federal and state wage and hour matters.  This experience includes: conducting comprehensive internal wage and hour audits; representing clients in federal and state Department of Labor audits; litigating wage and hour cases, including individual FLSA claims and collective and class actions; and developing manuals and training materials, and conducting wage and hour training for human resources staff, supervisors, and managers.

Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Mr. Liss was an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius.

Education

• J.D., The George Washington University Law School, with honors, 1999, Notes Editor, The George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics
• B.A., University of Rochester, with honors, 1996, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

• District of Columbia, Maryland
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• United States District Courts for the Districts of Maryland, N.D. Illinois, and E.D. Michigan

Memberships

• Member, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association

Articles

• Co-Author – Interplay Between the Labor Laws and the Bankruptcy Code – ABI Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop, July 27-30, 2005
• Author – Picking Workers’ Pockets?  DOL’s Proposed Rule: White Collar Exemptions – Fair Labor Standards Act training materials and seminar, July 31, 2003

Speeches

• Speaker – Picking Workers’ Pockets? DOL’s Proposed Rule: White Collar Exemptions – Fair Labor Standards Act training materials and seminar, July 31, 2003