Profile
James N. Boudreau is Co-Chair of the Global Labor & Employment Practice. Jim represents management in class action and complex employment litigation and devotes the majority of his practice to managing teams of attorneys and paralegals in nationwide class and collective actions from receipt of the complaint through discovery, class certification and trial. He is considered a thought leader in class-based employment litigation and has been listed by Human Resource Executive magazine as one of “The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers – Top 100," each year since 2013. He was also selected as one of five Law360 "MVP - Labor and Employment," for 2012, for his cutting-edge work representing employers in class and collective actions.
Concentrations
- Class and Collective action employment litigation
- Non-compete and trade secret litigation
- Wrongful termination litigation
Capabilities
Experience
- Represented international food manufacturer in multiple collective actions alleging FLSA violations; plaintiffs sought alleged unpaid wages, including overtime, incurred for time spent donning and doffing clothing and associated personal protective equipment, as well as waiting and/or walking time.
- Represented national provider of waste hauling services in putative class and collective under the FLSA and state analogues. Plaintiffs sought unpaid overtime compensation as a result of, among other things, allegedly working off-the-clock and employer’s nationwide policy of deducting a 30-minute meal break each day.
- Represented national health care provider in series of collective and class actions in which plaintiffs sought payment for alleged overtime compensation due as a result of company’s purported policy of automatically deducting 30-minute meal break each day.
- Represented financial services entity in purported nationwide class action alleging misclassification of independent contractors and resulting claims for repayment of allegedly improperly withheld FICA contributions; motion to dismiss granted; affirmed on appeal by Third Circuit, 542 F.3d 59 (3d Cir. 2008), in published opinion addressing question of first impression.
- Represented international pharmaceutical company in multiple nationwide class and collective actions asserting that company improperly classified its sales representatives as exempt outside sales and/or administrative employees in violation of the FLSA and various state laws.
- Obtained $1 million judgment in trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract action arising out of former employee’s theft of trade secrets and transfer of those secrets to competitor. Although former employee was not party to a non-compete agreement, obtained equitable relief prohibiting former employee from working for any competitor for two years and defendant employer from competing in industry for nine months.
- Represented food service provider in nationwide race discrimination class action alleging race-based harassment as well as systemic discrimination in pay and promotion.
- Represented retail mortgage loan company in four class and collective actions asserting that in four different corporate locations, company failed to pay its non-exempt retail loan officers for all hours worked. Company allegedly had an unwritten policy that retail loan officers were not to record hours worked in excess of 40 in a week, resulting in willful violations of FLSA. Defeated motions for nationwide certification and notice; cases proceeded individually, conditionally certified on state-by-state basis, until settlement on the eve of trial.
- Represented national retailer in class action filed by EEOC alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination. After aggressive discovery strategy, focusing on EEOC’s failure to conciliate, case settled at mediation on terms more favorable than offered pre-litigation.
- Represented transportation/delivery company in purported nationwide class and collective action alleging that employer improperly classified certain Dock Supervisors as exempt employees under the FLSA and Pennsylvania state law; motion to strike class allegations granted; state law claims dismissed in oft-cited reported decision regarding maintainability of hybrid collective/class actions.
°Some of the above representations were handled by Mr. Boudreau prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, 2018-2024
- Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2018-2024
- Employment Law - Management, 2022-2024
- Listed, The Legal 500 United States, 2013-2014, 2016-2023
- Workplace and Employment Counseling, 2021-2023
- ERISA Litigation, 2021 and 2023
- Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense, 2021-2023
- Labor - Management Relations, 2021-2023
- Intellectual Property: Trade Secrets (Litigation and Non-Contentious Matters), 2022-2023
- Listed, Lawdragon, 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2020-2024
- Named, Client Service All Star, BTI Client Service All-Stars Report, Labor & Employment, 2020
- Listed, Thomson Reuters, "Stand-Out Lawyers," 2022-2024
- Listed, Acritas Stars™ Independently Rated Lawyers, "Star Lawyers," 2019-2021
- Listed, Chambers USA Guide, Labor & Employment, 2014-2023
- Recognized Practitioner, 2014-2016
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, 2014-2023
- Listed, Benchmark Litigation, 2019-2024
- "Labor & Employment Star," 2019-2024
- "Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator," 2024
- Listed, Lawdragon and Human Resources Executive® magazine, "The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers – Top 100," 2013-2019
- Team Member, a Law360 "Employment Practice Group of the Year," 2011 and 2013
- Selected, Law360 "MVP - Labor and Employment," 2012
- Board Member, Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), Board of Directors
- Fellow, Temple Academy of Trial Advocacy
- Member, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Class Actions & Derivative Suits Committee
- Member, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Board Member, Law360, Employment Editorial Advisory Board, 2013
Credentials
Education
- J.D., cum laude, University of Minnesota Law School, 1990
- B.A., History, magna cum laude, Bowdoin College, 1987
Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- Massachusetts
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee