David Lopez, partner-in-charge of Outten & Golden's Washington, DC office, will be inducted this week as a Fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, joining current O&G Fellows Wayne N. Outten, Adam T. Klein, Laurence S. Moy and Wendi S. Lazar.
"I am very pleased that the College has recognized the extraordinary accomplishments of my partner David Lopez," said Mr. Outten, the firm's managing partner and a founding member of the College.
Mr. Lopez served as General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from April 8, 2010 until December 9, 2016 – the longest serving General Counsel of the agency. Mr. Lopez was nominated twice by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2010 and 2014.
Mr. Lopez is the first EEOC field trial attorney to be appointed as the agency's General Counsel. As General Counsel, Mr. Lopez was in charge of the Commission's litigation program, overseeing the agency's 15 Regional Attorneys and a staff of more than 325 lawyers and legal professionals who conduct or support Commission litigation in district and appellate courts across the country. He has served at the Commission in various capacities for the past 22 years, including as Supervisory Trial Attorney in the Phoenix District Office and Special Assistant to then-Chairman Gilbert F. Casellas.
Prior to joining the EEOC, Mr. Lopez was a Senior Trial Attorney with the Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section, of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Between 1988 and 1991, Mr. Lopez was an Associate with Spiegel and McDiarmid in Washington, DC.
Mr. Lopez obtained his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988 and graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University in 1985, with a B.S. in Political Science.
The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers was founded in 1995 on the 60th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Board and the 30th anniversary of Title VII and Executive Order 11246. The College began as a non-profit professional association honoring leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of labor and employment law. It has now evolved to become an intellectual and practical resource for the support of our profession and our many audiences.
Membership in the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers is by nomination only, limited to those who have met the required qualifications for a period of not less than twenty years. Membership honors those lawyers who have demonstrated their excellence and professionalism to their peers, the bar, bench, and public through longstanding, exceptional performance in the practice of labor and employment law.
Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. The firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues. It also represents employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers' rights issues.
Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act.
