CHICAGO, June 16, 2016 – For the sixth year in a row, Cozen O’ Connor attorneys Joseph Tilson and A. Martin Wickliff, Jr. have been named to the Lawdragon/Human Resource Executive (HRE) magazine list of the nation’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Lawyers.”
This annual guide pairs Lawdragon, a Los Angeles-based network for lawyers and clients, and HRE in presenting the nation’s leading employment defense lawyers. The attorneys on the list were selected from submissions of more than 5,000 employment and labor lawyers by clients and peers.
In addition to serving as chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, Joseph Tilson is also one of the co-managing partners of the firm’s Chicago office. His practice entails representing employers in large scale employment litigation and labor arbitrations. In the past 30 years, Tilson has tried more than 150 jury and non-jury cases before the full range of courts, administrative agencies and labor arbitrators. He is nationally known for his knowledge and success in handling large wage and hour class action cases, but he also has vast experience in collective bargaining involving large and complex bargaining units.
A. Martin Wickliff, Jr., a veteran trial lawyer, is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department in the Houston office. His representation of management includes advice and counsel, trials, appeal and administrative proceedings involving all types of discrimination matters (single and multiple plaintiff cases, as well as class actions), retaliation claims, layoffs and reduction in-force, noncompete and nondisclosure/nonsolicitation disputes, trade secrets, unfair competition, Sarbanes-Oxley and other whistle-blower actions, defamation, privacy claims, FMLA and WARN, as well as wage and hour litigation (collective actions and multiple plaintiff lawsuits).
Wickliff’s trial and appellate experience also includes all types of traditional labor disputes, including union elections and injunction matters before the National Labor Relations Board, labor arbitrations, collective bargaining and mediations, as well as matters before the OFCCP and OSHA.
Tilson is a fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, and is the American Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Section vice-chair. He also serves on the ABA’s Council, the governing body of the ABA’s Labor and Employment Law Section. Tilson has been recognized as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in the nation, including being named the Chicago Employment Law “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers (in 2014 and 2011), and “Client Choice” winner by the International Law Office (ILO) and Lexology (in 2014 and 2015). He has consistently achieved a Band 1 Labor & Employment Ranking from Chambers USA. In 2016, Tilson was further recognized by Chambers Global as a Labor & Employment “Leader in the Field”. Tilson has also been named to the SuperLawyers list of the “Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers” for the five consecutive years.
Wickliff has been very active in bar and community associations in the Houston area. He has served on the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas and on the board of trustees of the State Bar of Texas Insurance Trusts. He has also served as president of the Houston Lawyers Association. Recognized as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in the nation, his honors include: a consistent Band 1 Labor & Employment Ranking from Chambers USA, inclusion among the Best Lawyers in America, Top 100 in Texas and Top 100 in Houston, in Texas SuperLawyers, "Trailblazer Outside Counsel of the Year,” Texas Minority Counsel Program, State Bar of Texas, 2011, and “The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter-Century” in Texas Lawyer (2010). In addition, Wickliff is a fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has more than 825 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 26 offices across two continents.