Lawdragon has included five Haynes and Boone, LLP partners from four offices in the 2024 edition of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers guide: Jesse Gelsomini, Jason Habinsky, Chris Kang, Laura O’Donnell, and Susan Wetzel.
In compiling the 16th edition of the directory, Lawdragon vetted thousands of candidates, choosing lawyers who have had a significant impact representing employers with their most pressing issues. A lawyer must have been in practice at least 10 years, with rare exceptions, to make the guide.
The following Haynes Boone lawyers were included in the directory:
Houston Partner Jesse Gelsomini (Executive Compensation & Benefits). Named the 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" in the Houston metropolitan area for employee benefits (ERISA) law by Best Lawyers (Woodward/White, Inc.), Jesse helps clients in all industries efficiently resolve matters related to employee benefits, ERISA, and executive compensation. He brings over three decades of focused legal experience to his work designing, drafting, and administering retirement plans, health and other employee welfare benefit plans, and all types of executive compensation arrangements, as well as assisting with M&A transactions.
New York Partner Jason Habinsky (Labor & Employment). He uses an approach guided by years of experience to help develop creative strategies aimed at resolving his clients’ potentially volatile employment law matters before they escalate. Jason’s wealth of experience spans a broad range of employment-related issues, including claims of employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliatory discharge, disability issues, wage and hour disputes, unfair competition, and theft of trade secrets.
Dallas Partner Chris Kang (Executive Compensation & Benefits). Chris is the co-chair of the firm's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group and serves as a trusted adviser to numerous companies, financial institutions, private investment fund sponsors, and tax-exempt entities with respect to complex matters involving employee benefits, ERISA, and executive compensation.
San Antonio Partner Laura O’Donnell (Labor & Employment Litigation). Laura is co-chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group and heads the firm’s Wage and Hour Litigation Group. Laura is board-certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Her practice includes employment litigation, client counseling, executive investigations, executive agreements, nationwide employment law compliance projects, and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other corporate transactions.
Dallas Partner Susan Wetzel (Executive Compensation & Benefits). Susan is the co-chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group and chair of the Business Transactions Department. She counsels employers, executives and members of corporate boards regarding design, implementation, and compliance issues relating to retirement plans, welfare plans, employee benefits, executive compensation, and M&A.
The firm’s Labor and Employment practice group is equally adept in the boardroom and the courtroom, with a full-service team of employment lawyers across the country handling complex, high-stakes labor and employment matters. Clients routinely turn to Haynes Boone to counsel and train their executives and managers on significant labor and employment issues, and they appreciate our litigators’ ability to achieve successful results. Chambers USA has recognized the Labor and Employment lawyers as “good strategists,” noting that they are “consistently spot on.”
