Seyfarth Shaw Welcomes Minh N. Vu to D.C. Office as Partner in the Labor & Employment Department

Washington, D.C. (June 18, 2009)—Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full-service law firms, today announced that Minh N. Vu has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Labor & Employment Department. She was previously a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., where she served as co-chair of the firm’s Disability Law group.

Vu is an experienced litigator with special expertise in handling disability discrimination lawsuits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights laws. Her unique perspective derives from her work at the Department of Justice where she oversaw the enforcement of the ADA, the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Rehabilitation Act, as well as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She also represented the Department of Justice on the U.S. Access Board, the federal agency charged with creating accessibility guidelines for public accommodations and commercial facilities. Since returning to the private sector, Vu has defended employers and public accommodations in a variety of complex disability and employment law matters. She has defended public accommodations (e.g. retailers, hotels, and medical care facilities) and developers in a broad range of accessibility lawsuits under the ADA, the FHA, and similar state laws. In one recent nationwide ADA accessibility lawsuit against a national hotel company, Vu successfully narrowed the scope of the lawsuit from more than 2800 hotels to four on a motion to dismiss. Vu has also represented a number of public accommodations under investigation by Department of Justice for alleged violations of the ADA and FHA. Vu is national ADA counsel to the national associations for the lodging industry in addition to small businesses and has represented the lodging industry and other stakeholders in Department of Justice rulemaking proceedings under the ADA.

Vu also devotes a substantial portion of her practice to employment law litigation and counseling. She has defended employers against lawsuits and government investigations brought under anti-discrimination laws such as Title VII, the D.C. Human Rights Act, and the FMLA. Vu also advises employers on all aspects of the employment relationship, including: employment agreements, personnel policies and procedures, personnel actions, family and medical leave, illegal discrimination, and harassment.

“Minh is a talented litigator and we're very excited that she has joined our growing team of labor and employment attorneys,” said Jeremy P. Sherman, Chair of Seyfarth Shaw's Labor & Employment Department. “Her deep expertise in disability discrimination matters gained from her government and private law firm experience strengthens our firm's depth in this important area and will be a great asset to our clients. We look forward to working with her.”

Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor & Employment Department consists of roughly 350 employment attorneys nationally at all levels of experience, allowing seamless representation of the firm’s clients across jurisdictions. The firm’s labor and employment lawyers are organized to leverage their knowledge of specific industry experience and key workplace subspecialties, such as: Affirmative Action/Diversity, Business Immigration, California Labor Code Litigation, Complex Discrimination Litigation, ERISA/Employee Benefits Litigation, Employment Law Training, International Labor and Employment, Single-Plaintiff Litigation, Traditional Labor Law, Wage and Hour Litigation, and Workplace Counseling and Compliance Solutions.

“The D.C. office is thrilled to welcome Minh to our firm,” said Joseph R. Damato, Managing Partner of Seyfarth Shaw’s Washington, D.C. office. “She has a demonstrated record of accomplishment and is a team-oriented attorney who shares our commitment to a client-centered approach; she will fit right in.”

The Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw opened in 1971 with two lawyers whose practice focused on labor and employment law. Since that time, the office has grown to over 60 lawyers, with practices spanning government contracts, construction law and litigation, labor and employment and employee benefits. Over the past two years, the office has expanded its practice mix to include business services (specifically, corporate and real estate), commercial litigation, and white collar defense.

Before joining her prior firm, Vu was the Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Justice. She also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. She received her B.A. from Columbia College and her J.D. with honors from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Vu is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.

“I’m delighted to call Seyfarth Shaw home,” Vu said. “The firm’s strong reputation in labor and employment litigation initially attracted me to the firm and I’ve been extremely impressed with the level of excellence and drive displayed by my new colleagues throughout the firm’s platform.”

Seyfarth Shaw has over 775 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as Brussels, Belgium. Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services. The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business and social fabric. Clients include over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities. For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.