Newmeyer Dillion
Accelerating Business Success Through Expert Legal Advice

Many businesses require assistance with wage and hour compliance due to the challenging nature of ever-changing regulations. Adhering to the latest regulatory standards is particularly complex for employers with numerous employees and multiple locations due to their intricate chain of command.

Given this complexity, the law firm Newmeyer Dillion specializes in providing employment advice by offering litigation and transactional representation for both national and local businesses. It is a full-service law firm whose counseling offerings are tailored to a multitude of industry verticals to ensure that clients receive legal assistance across all phases of their business operations.

“Our mission is to drive business growth by offering personalized, business-centric legal advice and insights for clients to effectively manage intricate regulatory demands, ensure compliance, and achieve operational efficiency throughout their organization,” says Michael J. Studenka, a partner at Newmeyer Dillion.

The firm engages with clients’ HR managers to understand business policies and their implementation. This allows it to identify potential issues and compliance gaps and provide pragmatic recommendations to expedite implementation and mitigate any possible risks.

Newmeyer Dillion approaches clients’ problems from a comprehensive perspective. It has individual departments with experts for each employment matter, such as insurance, real estate, business litigation, corporate, environmental, bankruptcy, asset protection, lender liability, transactional domains, and more. Each of these teams keeps itself abreast of evolving legal frameworks. This practice helps them assist clients with various facets of their businesses.

The interplay among these specialized departments facilitates the exchange of valuable insights from others’ perspectives, enhancing each lawyer’s comprehension of how their guidance and advice could benefit different areas of clients’ businesses.

Newmeyer Dillion’s client engagement model is characterized by its adaptability and client-centricity. Much like a chameleon gracefully adapting to its surroundings, it tailors its protocols and recommendations for every client to suit their needs, priorities, and financial circumstances to achieve the best possible outcomes.

“Obviously for us as employment lawyers, starting with the HR team, when we have a new client, we work really hard to get to know their HR team, their HR manager as well, and develop trust,” says Jessica L. Garland, an associate at Newmeyer Dillion.

When assisting larger clients with litigations, it begins by identifying the areas of liability and the underlying reasons. To craft solutions for a particular predicament, it takes a dual approach, encompassing cultural and policy changes. It handles essential compliance documentation, like policies and handbooks, along with conducting training sessions for upper management, enlightening them on the necessity of change and the strategies for implementing it.

However, the company’s focus doesn’t just involve drafting formal documents but extends to the practical aspects of the client’s operations. It conducts site visits to various company locations, factories, or offices to assess their compliance with new policies and identify areas that require further attention. These on-site observations provide more detailed insights into business operations, making it easier for Newmeyer Dillion to suggest tailored adjustments to clients.

It then develops a strategic plan to disseminate these changes throughout the organization, specifically among lower management, who play a crucial role in executing these modifications on a daily basis.

“Our ability to respond promptly and offer hands-on support is a testament to our capacity to deliver proficient and timely resolutions, especially for clients with pressing demands who require swift and personalized attention,” says Tara C. Dudum, a partner at Newmeyer Dillion.

For example, Newmeyer Dillion recently assisted a client served with a subpoena by the U.S. Department of Labor. Initially unaware of the gravity of the situation, the client promptly complied, furnishing a substantial amount of information, opening their financial records, and consenting to employee interviews, all without the guidance of any employment counsel. This made the client potentially face a seven-figure penalty. Newmeyer Dillion was called upon by the client at the eleventh hour, who quickly intervened, confronted the looming possibility of a substantial penalty by the Department of Labor, narrowed the audit scope, and obtained a favorable outcome.

What empowers the company to deliver swift and effectual responses during intricate cases is its dynamic, well-trained, in-house team. Each partner and associate is intimately familiar with the client’s needs and preferences as they come from diverse backgrounds, such as different ethnicities, ages, genders, and life experiences. This diversity within the team enables the company to tailor its employment advice more effectively.

Newmeyer Dillion adopts a model of continuity in case staffing and handling by assigning one or two attorneys per case, and the same team remains dedicated to the client if their services are required again. This method not only proves to be economically efficient for clients but also streamlines the litigation process, leading to quicker and more effective outcomes.

In parallel to its core services, Newmeyer Dillion has established an exclusive program termed the ‘HR University.’ This initiative is designed to provide an academic-style learning platform for the company’s HR directors and their staff, allowing them to earn professional credits.

In this manner, Newmeyer Dillion positions itself as a resident expert across various industries in the U.S. for providing savvy and actionable legal advice.