The Law Firm of Isler Dare Ray Radcliffe & Connolly, P.C. is Northern Virginia’s premier labor and employment law boutique firm. Since its founding in 1997, the practice of the Firm has been dedicated exclusively to representing employers in addressing employment issues. The Firm advises management with respect to counseling and disciplining employees, and represents employers in responding to discrimination and harassment claims before the EEOC and in federal or state court. In addition, the Firm provides guidance on wage-hour issues (FLSA and SCA), employee benefits, and engages in drafting and litigating issues related to non-compete agreements. Prior to establishing or joining the Firm, each of the Firm’s nine partners practiced law with some of the nation’s largest law firms, and the firm is committed to providing the same quality representation at a reasonable cost.
Recent and Upcoming Developments
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria) awarded summary judgment to a defendant employer represented by the firm on June 8, 2012. On August 3, 2012, the Court also granted a partial award of attorney’s fees based upon the frivolous claims filed by the defendant’s former employee alleging discrimination and retaliation. To read the court’s opinion, click here.
We are pleased to announce that Lindsay Buchanan Burke joined the Firm as a Senior Associate in July 2012. Lindsay litigates cases and advises clients on a range of labor and employment matters including those arising under Title VII, the ADA, the Equal Pay Act, FMLA, FLSA, and the False Claims Act, as well as state workplace law such as restrictive covenants and common law torts. Lindsay also drafts and reviews employee handbooks and policies, restrictive covenants, employment agreements, severance agreements, and settlement agreements. Prior to joining Isler Dare in 2012, Lindsay practiced employment law for nearly five years with Covington & Burling LLP, in Washington, D.C. In 2012 Lindsay argued and won a whistleblower retaliation case arising under the False Claims Act in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Lindsay graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 2006. After law school, Lindsay served as a law clerk to the Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to attending law school, Lindsay was a high school History and English teacher. Lindsay is admitted to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
We are pleased to announce that Vi D. Nguyen, formerly with Hogan Lovells US LLP in Washington, D.C., joined the Firm as Senior Counsel on June 6, 2012. Ms. Nguyen graduated from Stanford Law School in 2004. She received her undergraduate degree with distinction from the University of Virginia and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She counsels publicly-traded and private company clients in areas of employee benefits and executive compensation for compliance with ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and federal securities laws. Ms. Nguyen has expertise in a wide range of compensation and employee benefit plans, including tax-qualified retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, equity compensation plans, employment agreements and severance arrangements. She also has extensive experience with employee benefits matters arising in the context of mergers and acquisitions, including the negotiation and drafting of stock and asset purchase agreements and golden parachute tax issues. Ms. Nguyen is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia.
We are pleased to announce that Wayne A. Schrader joined the Firm as a Partner in April 2012. Previously, Mr. Schrader served with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher beginning in 1975 as an associate and later as a partner from 1983 through April 2012. Mr. Schrader was a member of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s Labor & Employment and Litigation Departments. Mr. Schrader received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California and his law degree in 1975 from the University of California at Los Angeles Law School, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and a Managing Editor of the Law Review. He is a member of the bars of California and the District of Columbia, and is admitted to practice before the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as the District Court for the District of Columbia, the Central and Northern Districts of California, and the District of Maryland. Mr. Schrader is an experienced trial attorney. Mr. Schrader has tried jury and non-jury cases in several different courts throughout the country and before arbitrators and administrative law judges connected with various federal agencies including the NLRB and the DOL. Mr. Schrader’s employment law experience includes the defense of individual and class action claims for discrimination (including harassment claims) and for alleged violations of wage & hour laws. It also includes representation of employers in individual wrongful termination and trade secrets/non-compete cases and in whistleblower retaliation claims. Mr. Schrader is a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Alabama Law School where he teaches a course entitled “Class Actions.” Mr. Schrader is AV® Peer-Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
The firm is pleased to announce that we have elected two new partners effective January 2012. The new partners are Lori H. Turner and Mark E. Papadopoulos. Lori joined the firm in 2004 after graduating from the Universityof Pittsburgh Law School magna cum laude. She has experience in advising and counseling clients in a wide range of labor and employment issues including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, as well as state law garnishment and restrictive covenant issues. Mark joined Isler Dare in 2008 after six years with the Department of Labor. Mark litigates cases and advises clients on the full range of labor and employment matters with a particular focus on wage and hour cases and compliance matters. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable J.L. Edmondson of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals after graduating magna cum laude from Cornell Law School in 1998.
We are pleased to announce that Andrea O’Brien, formerly the head of the employee benefits practice group at Venable LLP, joined the Firm as a Partner on June 1, 2011. Ms. O’Brien is a 1982 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1985. Ms. O’Brien assists clients in designing and implementing a wide range of compensation and employee benefit plans. She has co-authored numerous articles on current employee benefit issues and speaks frequently on employee benefit issues to professional groups and clients. Ms. O’Brien is AV® Peer-Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
The firm was recognized in the 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 editions of Chambers USA as one of the top 11 labor and employment firms in Virginia, and was the only boutique firm to receive that honor. Eddie Isler, Mark Dare, and Theresa Connolly also were each honored as top labor and employment attorneys in the state. For more information, go to www.chambersandpartners.com.
Eddie Isler, Steve Ray, Mark Dare, and Theresa Connolly were listed in the 2011 and 2010 editions of Virginia SuperLawyers in the categories of Employment & Labor and Employment Litigation: Defense. Eddie Isler was also listed as one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Virginia.
On November 17, 2011, Andrea O’Brien co-presented “Strategies for Plan Fiduciaries Amidst Market Volatility” at a 401(k) / 403(b) Plan Fiduciary Best Practices Workshop hosted by Mercer. Click here for a copy of the presentation.
On September 14, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the firm’s motion to dismiss a sexual harassment claim filed against a former military officer by a civilian employee. To read the court’s opinion, click here.
Mark Dare was asked by Virginia Lawyers Weekly in August 2011 to comment on a decision by the Fairfax Circuit Court declining to enforce a covenant not to compete. To read Mr. Dare’s comments and the Court’s decision in Daston Corp. v. Micore Solutions, click here.
On March 25, 2011, the U.S. District Court in Alexandria granted the Motion to Dismiss filed by the firm on behalf of an employer in an Americans With Disabilities Act case. To read a transcript of the hearing, click here.
Lori Turner was listed as a 2010 Virginia Rising Star by Virginia SuperLawyers in the category of Employment & Labor.
The U.S. District Court in Alexandria dismissed a suit alleging racially discriminatory employment termination, granting the firm’s Motion to Dismiss on October 8, 2010. To read the court’s decision, click here.
Mark Dare wrote the 2010 Supplement to Chapter Ten, “Unfair Competition,” in Employment Law in Virginia. Mr. Dare is an editor of this book, published by Virginia CLE and called “the Bible” of Virginia employment law, and he authored the original chapter on unfair competition.
Eddie Isler and Steve Ray revised their publication, Virginia Employment Practices and Forms, published by Virginia CLE. The revised publication will soon be available online at www.vacle.org.
Mark Dare wrote the 2010 Supplement to “Employment Law: Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities” in The Virginia Lawyer: A Deskbook for Practitioners, published by Virginia CLE. To order a copy of this publication, go to www.vacle.org.
Mark Dare was appointed by the Governor of Virginia in December 2009 to represent the Dean of the George Mason University Law School in a gender discrimination case filed by a member of the law school faculty. Summary Judgment was awarded to the Dean and George Mason University by the U.S. District Court on May 21, 2010. To read an excerpt from the court’s oral ruling on summary judgment, click here.
Eddie Isler, Steve Ray, and Mark Dare were listed in the 2010 edition of Washington, D.C. SuperLawyers in the categories of Employment & Labor and Employment Litigation: Defense.
In January 2010, Eddie Isler began serving as Chair of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Section of The Virginia Bar Association.
Theresa Connolly and Eddie Isler were named as two of the top sixteen employment defense attorneys in the Washington, D.C. area in the December 2009 edition of Washingtonian magazine.
The Firm authored “The Virginia Wage and Hour Handbook”, published by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce as part of its Legal Reference Series. Go to www.vachamber.com for more information.
Eddie Isler served as co-editor and contributing author of, Virginia Business Torts, published by Virginia Law Foundation. For more information, go to www.vacle.org.
In the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, the firm obtained an injunction against an employee’s efforts to compete in violation of a covenant not to compete. To read the court’s oral ruling, click here.
The U.S. District Court in Alexandria on June 20, 2008, awarded summary judgment to a defendant employer represented by the firm in a Section 1981 discrimination and retaliation case, and also awarded the firm’s client $5,000 in attorney’s fees. To read the orders, click here.
The firm received a favorable ruling on a motion to dismiss in an ADEA case filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. For a copy of the court’s ruling inPanyanouvong v. Vienna Wolftrap Hotel, which contains an extended discussion of the equitable tolling doctrine in the context of the ADEA, please click here.
In August 2007, the firm succeeded in petitioning the Virginia Supreme Court to vacate an injunction order entered in a non-compete case by the Fairfax County Circuit Court. To see the opinon of the Virginia Supreme Court, click here.