Labor & Employment Senior Associate or Counsel

Mcguire; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 190,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Merit bonus opportunities

Billable hours credit for pro bono

Excellent benefits

Job summary

McGuireWoods seeks a Senior Associate or Counsel to join its Labor & Employment Department. The role blends strategic advisory work with transactional counseling on high-stakes employment issues arising from acquisitions, leadership transitions, and post-closing integration.

You will work with McGuireWoods’ Healthcare, Private Equity, and M&A teams to counsel corporate clients and sponsors on employment issues, including non-compete and wage considerations, and will participate in due diligence

Qualifications

• Excellent academic credentials and top-tier legal training.
• Experience counseling on employment issues in corporate transactions and diligence.
• Ability to manage complex, high-stakes matters with minimal supervision.
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills for junior attorneys.
• Proficiency in coordinating with deal teams, HR, and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Counsel clients on workplace policies, compliance, and HR matters in complex transactions.
• Lead employment-related due diligence and identify material legal and business risks.
• Draft, structure, and negotiate restrictive covenants and related agreements.
• Supervise junior associates and deliver client-ready work product under deadlines.
• Partner with senior executives to advise on leadership transitions and governance issues.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Mentoring junior attorneys

Relationship building

Strategic judgment

Client counseling

Education

Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent

Tools

Harvey AI

Job description

McGuireWoods is seeking a talented Senior Associate or Counsel to join its Labor & Employment Department. This role offers the opportunity to work on sophisticated matters at the intersection of employment law, executive mobility, and corporate transactions.

This is not a traditional employment law role. Our team advises on high-stakes matters where workforce decisions directly affect enterprise value, leadership continuity, and transaction success. Working closely with McGuireWoods’ nationally ranked Healthcare, Private Equity, and M&A teams, you will counsel corporate clients and private equity sponsors on employment issues arising from acquisitions, divestitures, leadership transitions, restrictive covenant disputes, and post-closing integration.

In this role, you will serve as a trusted advisor to clients and a key resource to our deal teams on sophisticated employment matters requiring strategic thinking, seasoned judgment, and the ability to move quickly. This is an opportunity to build a practice that blends strategic advisory work, risk assessment, transactional counseling, and crisis management in a fast-moving, high‑stakes environment where your contributions will be visible and valued.

Be advised this is a national search with a focus on the following markets: Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Pittsburgh, New York, Richmond, and Washington, DC

McGuireWoods, one of the world’s leading law firms, has provided legal solutions to corporate, individual and nonprofit clients since 1834. Along with excellent benefits, McGuireWoods offers our attorneys a competitive salary with hours and merit bonus opportunities and billable hours credit for pro bono work. Continually establishing new initiatives and enhancing existing efforts, we focus on meaningful support for our lawyers in their careers. Our Applicant Disclosures describe your rights. Our Privacy Statement describes how we will process and safeguard your personal data.

Responsibilities:

• Counseling clients on workplace policies, employment compliance, employee relations, and HR matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-and-hour issues
• Advising on restrictive covenant and wage misclassification issues, including the structuring, drafting, and enforceability of non‑competition, non‑solicitation, and confidentiality obligations
• Leading employment‑related due diligence in corporate and private equity transactions, identifying and prioritizing material legal and business risks, developing practical mitigation strategies, and supervising junior associates
• Independently managing complex employment matters and transactional workstreams, including identifying material risks, developing practical recommendations, coordinating with deal teams, and delivering timely, client‑ready work product
• Partnering with senior executives and corporate leadership to advise on sensitive personnel, leadership transition, and governance issues where discretion and strategic judgment are essential
• Providing mentorship and developmental support to junior associates through substantive guidance, constructive feedback, and opportunities for increased responsibility on complex client matters.

Qualified candidates will have:

• At least seven years of relevant legal experience, including substantial experience in labor and employment counseling, employment‑related transactional matters, or other sophisticated employment law matters:
  1. Experience counseling clients across a wide range of employment issues, including discrimination and wage‑and‑hour matters
  2. Experience advising employers on workplace policies, compliance, employee relations, and HR matters strongly preferred
  3. Experience representing clients in government agency audits or investigations (e.g., DOL, EEOC) and strong issue‑spotting skills
  4. Experience with restrictive covenants and wage misclassification issues
  5. A background in injunction or restrictive covenant litigation is valued, and experience with collective actions is helpful but not required
  6. Experience advising on employment issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, private equity transactions, and post‑closing integration strongly preferred
• Litigators with relevant employment experience who wish to transition to a counseling‑focused practice are encouraged to apply
• Must have excellent academic credentials
• Exceptional analytical, communication, and organizational skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, supervise and mentor junior attorneys, and deliver high‑quality work product under tight deadlines
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior business leaders, HR professionals, and in‑house counsel, and to work effectively with corporate, private equity, and healthcare teams
• Demonstrated ownership mindset, intellectual curiosity, and ability to independently analyze complex legal and business issues, exercise sound judgment, and deliver practical, commercially oriented solutions
• Willingness and desire to work with innovative technology platforms. Our attorneys leverage Harvey AI to accelerate research, streamline document drafting, and enhance analytical work, allowing associates to focus on higher‑value strategic thinking and client engagement
• Candidates must be admitted to practice in the jurisdiction to which they are applying

NOTICE TO SEARCH FIRMS: Firms that wish to present candidates to McGuireWoods LLP must have an active agreement in place. All search firm candidates should be submitted via the Search Firm Portal. All other unsolicited submissions by search firms will be deemed not accepted. For questions or access to the portal, please contact the appropriate Attorney Recruiting Manager.

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