Practices
Industries
Education
- J.D., University of California, Hastings, 2010
- B.A., Northwestern University, 2007
Clerkships
- Extern to the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Court for the Northern District
- Extern to the National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges – San Francisco
Admissions
- California
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Overview
Keahn N. Morris is an associate in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the San Francisco office.
Areas of Practice
Keahn’s practice focuses on representing companies and management in traditional labor law and employment issues. He also focuses on helping companies prevent employee-related problems before they become lawsuits and labor relations issues.
Recognized by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star", Keahn was identified as a top rated labor and employment attorney from 2014-present. Keahn has extensive experience in all aspects of traditional labor law. He regularly advises companies on strategic matters involving labor unions, including responding to union organizing drives and decertifications, union avoidance, outsourcing, strike preparation, strike management, lockouts, and replacement situations. He has handled large, nationwide corporate organizing campaigns and guided employers of all sizes through difficult labor situations involving picketing, strikes, boycotts, and/or negative public relations battles by nearly all of the major unions in the United States. He has extensive experience handling labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice and representation cases before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the United States Courts of Appeals, and other federal court litigation involving complex labor issues, including injunctions. He serves as lead negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations – in situations ranging from hard bargaining to recapture management rights to more cooperative negotiations – in all cases designed to assist clients in achieving their primary labor goals.
Keahn also represents employers in a wide range of employment actions in state and federal court and before governmental agencies, including disputes involving wage and hour class and PAGA actions, whistleblowing, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, trade secrets, and unfair competition. He regularly lectures on labor and employment-related topics, conducts management training, and advises clients regarding legislative and regulatory initiatives, workplace investigations, discipline and discharge matters, corporate transactions, reorganizations and reductions-in-force, preservation of management prerogatives, social media issues, workplace policies/agreements, and employment-related risk management.
Keahn represents clients across a range of industries, including healthcare, hospitality, retail, food and beverage, wine, manufacturing, warehousing, automotive, transportation, construction, emerging growth and the “gig” economy.
Keahn is a member of the Employment and Labor Law Section of the American Bar Association and its Subcommittee on Practice and Procedure Under the NLRA
During law school, Keahn was a law clerk at the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Judges in San Francisco where he assisted judges with litigation related to the NLRA. He also served as an extern to the Honorable Judge Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court of Northern California.
Honors
- Northern California Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2014-2018
Thought Leadership
Articles
Labor & Employment Law Blog Posts
-
"NLRB Issues Important Decision Regarding What Constitutes “Protected Concerted Activity” in Union and Union-Free Environments Under Federal Labor Law," January 17, 2019
- "Labor Board Back to Five Member Composition – What Obama-Era Precedent Is Next on the Chopping Block?," April 26, 2018
- "NLRB Asks D.C. Circuit to Revive Review of Joint Employer Standard Under BFI; Hy-Brand Decision Vacated Following NLRB Ethics Official’s Report," March 2, 2018
- "Considering Offering Severance Pay in Exchange for Certain Post-Employment Obligations? Think Again," February 20, 2018
- "Striking A New Balance – The NLRB Abandons the Lutheran Heritage Test and Devises a New Standard for Assessing the Facial Validity of Neutral Work Rules," December 15, 2017
- "NLRB Overrules Browning-Ferris Joint Employer Standard," December 15, 2017
- "New Labor Board May Kill “Quickie Election” Rule; Requests Public RFI," December 13, 2017
- "New Labor Board GC Signals Overturning Obama-Era Rulings, But Anticipated Vacancies and Recusals Create Uncertainty," December 8, 2017
- "House Approves Save Local Business Act – Bill To Overturn Controversial Joint Employer Ruling," November 8, 2017
- "5 New Laws: California Governor Approves Employee-Friendly Laws," October 13, 2017
- "Committee Approves Save Local Business Act – Redefining Joint Employer Liability," October 5, 2017
- "Save Local Business Act Introduced in the House," September 19, 2017
- "NLRB Orders Union To Drop Unlawful Grievance, to Dismiss Suit Seeking to Compel Neutral Employers to Arbitrate Grievance and to Pay The Employers’ Legal Fees and Defense Costs," June 5, 2017
Healthcare Law Blog Posts
Speaking Engagements
- Labor & Employment Law Update, Fall 2017 Seminar Series, San Francisco (October 2017)
- California Labor and Employment Law Update, California Association of Health Facilities Summer Conference, Long Beach (July 2016)
- Breakfast With Your Labor Lawyer, Spring 2017 Seminar Series, Palo Alto (May 2017)
- California Labor and Employment Law Update, California Association of Health Facilities Spring Legislative Conference, Sacramento (March 2016)
- Surveying the New Labor Law Landscape: A Rocky Road Ahead, San Francisco (May 2015)
- California Labor and Employment Law Update, California Association of Health Facilities Spring Legislative Conference, Sacramento (March 2015)
- Labor Roundtable: The New Joint Employer Standard Under the NLRB, San Francisco (December 2015)
- Labor Seminar Breakfast Series, New Developments Under the NLRB, San Francisco (December 2014)
- California Breakfast Series: California Workplace Law Update, San Francisco (December 2013)
Events
- CAHF & QCHF 2018 Summer ConferenceJuly 17, 2018
- Spring 2018 Seminar SeriesApril 19, 2018
- California Association of Health Facilities 2018 Spring Legislative ConferenceSacramento, March 19, 2018
- Fall 2017 Seminar SeriesOctober 18, 2017
Memberships
- American Bar Association - Committee on Practice and Procedure Under the NLRA
- Bar Association of San Francisco
- California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF)
- California Bar Association