CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sidley Austin LLP announced today that it has added Steven T. Catlett as a partner to the firm’s labor and employment practice in Chicago. A 25-year legal veteran, Mr. Catlett is a well-known and highly regarded class action litigator, who will become co-chair of the Employment, Labor and Immigration practice at Sidley. His primary focus will be on class action discrimination, wage and hour, employee benefits and other complex employment litigation.
“Steve has built a successful and nationally respected practice that will add to our critical mass and experience in class actions,” said Anne E. Rea, a member of Sidley’s Management Committee. “As business in this area continues to grow, so will our capacity to manage complex matters. Steve’s skill set, history of cases and reputation provide a great opportunity for the firm to further advance in this area.”
Brian J. Gold, head of Sidley’s labor and employment practice commented, “Sidley has significant experience and a record of success in resolving a broad variety of complex employment issues. Steve brings to the firm an impressive track record, and his intellectual and professional strengths fit well with our current focus. Along with Doug Hart, Jennifer Zargarof and Geoffrey DeBoskey, who we brought into the practice last August in Los Angeles, Steve helps Sidley deepen its already substantial bench in Chicago and our other offices in this critical and growing area of employment litigation. I am very pleased to welcome Steve to the firm and look forward to working closely with him.”
Mr. Catlett practices nationally in all phases of matters, including pre-litigation counseling, discovery, trial and appeal with a range from single plaintiff cases to large class actions. A significant focus of his practice is defense of class action and multiparty litigation in a variety of areas, such as employment, wage-hour, ERISA and non-compete/trade secret claims. As a result he has considerable experience in managing class action litigation and employing innovative strategies to avoid class certification as well as to pursue effective settlement strategies. Mr. Catlett also has experience in internal investigations and compliance work, including Sarbanes-Oxley whistle-blower claims, in trade secrets litigation, in appellate litigation and in restructuring-related litigation.
“Sidley’s reputation, client base and commitment to expanding its employment class action capabilities nationally offer me an opportunity to deepen Sidley’s capabilities in an increasingly important area for corporate clients generally, and Sidley’s clients specifically,” said Mr. Catlett. “I am eager to work with colleagues to build on the employment and labor resources we offer our clients around the globe and in virtually every industry.”
Before entering private practice, Mr. Catlett clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Kenneth W. Starr on the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. He also served as a special assistant to the legal adviser at the U.S. Department of State.
Mr. Catlett received a J.D. from Columbia University, where he was managing editor of the Columbia Law Review, a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He received his B.S., cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sidley’s employment and labor practice, with more than 50 lawyers, has decades of experience in litigating virtually all types of employment and traditional labor claims before federal and state courts and agencies, ranging from single-plaintiff cases to complex class actions. Sidley lawyers also provide comprehensive counseling to clients on a wide variety of employment and labor issues. In 2009, the firm was named by Law360 as one of its Employment Law Firms of the Year.
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with approximately 1700 lawyers practicing in 17 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Sidley is recognized for service and responsiveness. Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the inaugural U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings for 2010. BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.
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