Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal has fortified its labor and employment practice with two lateral hires, the firm announced on Wednesday.
The Dallas law firm has signed Christie Newkirk, who was co-chair of the labor and employment practice at Diamond McCarthy, as a partner and former Gibson Dunn associate Chelsea Glover.
Newkirk says she has admired Carrington Coleman since early in her career when she worked with Mike Birrer, now head of the firm’s employment practice, representing co-defendants in an employment case.
“Carrington Coleman’s lawyers are super smart, high-integrity and team-oriented,” Newkirk, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.
“Over the last few years, I’ve found that my clients need access to a broader array of services. Moving to Carrington Coleman gives them access to this great team of lawyers who operate within a close-knit and collaborative environment.”
A former chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Employment Law Section, Newkirk regularly advises clients on planning and implementing reductions in the workforce; managing employee performance issues and high risk employment decisions; and preparing confidentiality, noncompetition and executive employment agreements.
Newkirk says before COVID-19 hit, the #MeToo movement dominated her practice.
“What surprised me was how often employers initially faced completely contradictory points of view on what happened,” said Newkirk, who is the current membership chair of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association. “We had to use a lot of creativity and ingenuity to find ‘tie breaker’ evidence and resolve the dispute.”
But then she received a call in mid-February about whether an employer should be concerned that an employee who was traveling home from overseas might have COVID-19. It was the first of many calls.
“I had no idea how COVID-19 would take over my practice,” she said.
While the calls initially centered around the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and how to conduct layoffs, she says she is now focused on return-to-work considerations and how to manage the risk of the virus.
Looking ahead, Newkirk forecasts a significant rise in claims arising from the multitude of layoffs, such as allegations that an employee was wrongfully terminated or an employer refused to rehire an employee due to their protected status. She also predicts an increase in the number of Americans with Disabilities Act cases, with immunocompromised employees claiming that their conditions are not being reasonably accommodated.