Exploring Legal Specialties: Labor and Employment Law

Labor and employment law offers a wealth of challenges and career growth opportunities for attorneys interested in this work. Here, we explore the unique challenges and opportunities available in today’s labor and employment law field.

Top Skills for Labor and Employment Law Attorneys

Labor and employment law attorneys benefit from cultivating the following skills and traits:

• Flexibility

  • No two days are identical for a labor and employment law attorney. Time may be spent litigating, negotiating, providing advice to clients, creating contracts and other paperwork, trial preparation, or other tasks. 

• Communication

  • Labor and employment law attorneys work closely with fellow lawyers and with paralegals. They also communicate regularly with human resources teams, union representatives, business owners and executives, and insurance companies. The ability to communicate effectively and build rapport is a must. 

• Curiosity

  • Labor and employment law attorneys need to know more than the law. They also need to understand how labor practices play out in any given industry. Lawyers who are passionately curious and love to learn new things beyond legal practice will do well in this field. 

 

With a broad range of tasks and questions to address on any given day, labor and employment lawyers never lack interesting work. The ability to manage time well and juggle diverse projects is essential. 

Key Trends in Labor and Employment Law

Labor and employment law are covered at federal, state, and local levels. At each level, the laws, regulations, policies, and ordinances continually change. Current top trends in labor and employment law include: 

• NLRB changes and challenges.

  • From recently released National Labor Relations Board guidance to Supreme Court cases addressing the Board’s existence, the NLRB remains a hub of labor and employment law trends. 

• Pregnancy and postpartum-related laws.

  • Recent federal laws expand protections for pregnant and breastfeeding employees. 

• Wage and hour laws.

  • Worker classification, minimum wage rules, and overtime requirements are hot topics at every level of government – and a consistently trending topic for labor and employment law. 

• Cost management.

  • Managing labor costs is a significant concern for most businesses. For attorneys, this means finding efficiencies to provide quality representation to both worker and business clients. 

 

Adapting to these trends can help attorneys build a career in the field.

Launching a Career in Labor and Employment Law

If you’re interested in a career in labor and employment law, don’t hesitate to reach out to attorneys who work in this field. Law professors can also provide insight into key trends and questions arising in labor and employment law. Speaking to a specialized recruiter can also help you learn more about the field. 

If you’re ready to explore new legal career opportunities, get in touch with the team at Avata Partners today!