Scott Nelson, a leading labor and employment lawyer with more than two decades of experience handling complex domestic and international employment matters and commercial litigation, has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as a partner in the firm’s Houston office. Nelson joins Hunton Andrews Kurth from Seyfarth Shaw LLP, where he was a partner. He also previously served as leader of Baker McKenzie LLP’s domestic U.S. Employment Counseling and Litigation practice.

Nelson focuses his practice on complex employment litigation in federal and state courts, with a particular emphasis on wage and hour class and collective actions, ERISA litigation, and trade secret and restrictive covenant matters. He also has an active counseling practice, advising clients on all aspects of employment law compliance, including internal investigations, executive terminations, mass layoffs, employee policies, employee training, due diligence, international employment law issues, restrictive covenants, and wage-and-hour matters.

“Scott’s thorough understanding of the many complex issues our clients face and his impressive track record of experience handling ERISA litigation and advising on international employment law matters complement the strengths of our comprehensive labor and employment practice,” said Emily Burkhardt Vicente, co-chair of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s labor and employment group. “We are pleased to welcome him to the firm.”

“Scott is a highly respected and talented attorney whose reputation for excellence and commitment to providing top client service make him a natural fit for the labor and employment team, as we continue to grow in Houston and nationally,” said practice co-chair Kevin J. White. “We are looking forward to the many contributions Scott will make to the firm and our clients.”

Some of Nelson’s notable representations include:

• Secured a bench trial victory in large ERISA § 204(h) notice class action in which plaintiffs sought a recovery in excess of $200 million.
• Jensen v. Solvay Chems., Inc., 625 F.3d 641 (10th Cir. 2010) (affirming summary judgment victory dismissing a large ADEA collective action related to conversion of pension plan to cash balance formula)
• Successfully defended multinational chemical companies in one of the largest employee trade secrets cases to ever go to a jury trial, a case in which plaintiffs sought $800 million through economic espionage-type trade secrets claims.
• Won a multimillion dollar arbitration award, including seven-figure recovery of attorneys’ fees, in favor of an energy trading firm in a breach of contract action against former executives.
• Successfully defended multinational energy companies against claims seeking $440 million arising out of a $6 billion LNG project in Indonesia.

Nelson received his undergraduate and law degrees from Creighton University.

For more than 70 years, Hunton Andrews Kurth’s national labor and employment team has assisted clients from a broad spectrum of industry including the retail, hospitality, financial, oil and gas, energy and health care sectors. With approximately 60 attorneys based throughout the U.S., our team assists clients with the full range of matters impacting the employer/employee relationship. We have significant experience litigating in state and federal courts and working with both labor unions and government agencies to negotiate beneficial outcomes. We are one of the few firms that successfully tries class and collective actions to juries under Title VII and the FLSA and are particularly adept at providing strategic labor advice, handling complex NLRB matters, corporate and election campaigns.