© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(Aug. 26) – Labor and employment expert Celina Joachim recently returned to Baker & McKenzie as a partner in Houston after eight months working in-house at Direct Energy.
Joachim, who practiced the first ten years of her legal career at Baker & McKenzie, said the move was like “returning home.
“The firm’s renowned employment practice and its client-focused approach make it a perfect fit for my practice,” she said. “The firm has opportunities for flexible work arrangements which are great for working mothers like myself with professional and career development initiatives to help advance attorneys into leadership roles.”
The University of Houston Law Center graduate said her experience as counsel at Direct Energy was “invaluable” and helped her notice what she valued from outside counsel.
“Good outside counsel add a lot of value to a company and can make your job in-house easier,” she said. “I hope to emulate the behaviors that I valued while in-house.”
Joachim, who is a regular contributor to Baker & McKenzie’s new blog focusing on Texas labor and employment matters, says she is seeing a lot of activity in wage and hour issues, sick leave and disability accommodation and developments related to LGBT workers.
More specifically, she added that the misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees is a growing area of enforcement in the U.S. and around the world. For clients wondering about the distinction, she highlights recent guidance released by the Department of Labor that says “most workers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”
© 2014 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.