Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Ann Marie Painter has joined its Dallas office as a partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment practice.  She was most recently a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.  Painter is the third partner to join the Dallas office since March.

“Ann Marie is a great addition to our Dallas office and to our national Labor & Employment practice,” said Steve Smith, Office Managing Partner of Perkins Coie’s Dallas office.  “Her experience in employment litigation, collective actions, and noncompete litigation is a perfect fit with our national practice and will be of great interest to our Texas clients as well.”

Painter focuses her practice on representing employers in all aspects of employment and labor litigation and counseling.  As a litigator, Painter’s matters include those involving alleged discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract and unfair competition.  Painter also has a background in both FLSA and state wage and hour collective and class actions.  She has significant experience litigating in state and federal courts, having made appearances on behalf of clients in more than ten states.  Painter also counsels employers on matters involving social media policies, usage, and evidence, wage and hour audits, background checks and FCRA compliance, reductions-in-force and organizational restructuring, non-compete issues,  employee classification issues, disability accommodation, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state agency charges.  She also provides strategic planning with respect to various employment matters, and negotiates executive agreements, as well as separation arrangements using employer-protective releases.

Painter received her J.D., with high honors, from the University of Tennessee College of Law and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Carson-Newman College.  She has been ranked nationally in Chambers USA from 2011-2013. Texas Monthly named Painter one of the state’s “Rising Stars” in 2005, and she was named one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40” by D Magazine in 2006, one of the “Best Women Lawyers in Dallas” in 2010, and one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” in  2011 and 2013.

In addition to her law practice, Painter serves on the Board of Directors for the Vogel Alcove in Dallas, is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the American Bar Association, served as chair of the 2006 Dallas Bar Association Speaker’s Committee, and is a past co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Employment & Labor Relations Law and Distance CLE Committees.  She is a frequent speaker for national CLE programs and Texas State Bar programming and also is an editorial board member for the Family and Medical Leave Handbook, published by Thompson Publishing Group.

Painter’s arrival follows closely upon the addition of partners Bobby Majumder and Kelly Hine who joined the firm’s Dallas office in March of this year.

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