Francis A.Wilson
Associate
Labor & Employment
fwilson@seyfarth.com
Francis protects what matters most to employers—their proprietary information, their top talent, and their ability to defend against high‑stakes wage and hour litigation.
More About Francis
With employment rules evolving at every level of government, even well‑resourced employers face real exposure. Francis helps clients cut through the noise, understand what’s changing, and respond with confidence when issues or claims emerge.
Francis’ practice has spanned the full gamut of labor and employment matters, from single-plaintiff Title VII discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, to Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification cases, to Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower retaliation cases, to disputes about executive compensation—and everything in between. Francis has extensive experience prosecuting and defending employee defection cases across the country, including cases involving claims of trade secret misappropriation, breaches of employees’ restrictive covenants (e.g., noncompetition and customer/employee nonsolicitation agreements) and confidentiality agreements, employees’ breaches of their duty of loyalty and other fiduciary duties, unfair and deceptive trade practices, tortious interference with contracts or prospective business relations, Lanham Act violations, and other related claims.
Additionally, Francis regularly defends employers against class and collective actions, particularly those involving wage and hour claims. He has helped clients navigate class and collective actions arising under state and federal law, including claims involving alleged unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, unlawful kickbacks, off-the-clock work, employee/independent contractor misclassification, minimum wage and overtime exemption misclassification, and others. He also assists clients respond to federal, state, and local audits of their employee pay practices.
Outside of the litigation context, Francis assists his clients navigate day-to-day labor and employment issues—to help them best avoid costly litigation. He assists clients with drafting complex employment-related contracts, such as executive compensation agreements, multistate employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and bonus and commission agreements. He assists clients with drafting and revising employment handbooks and policies. He advises clients through employment discipline and separation, as well as any other labor and employment questions that may arise.
Francis also works with a wide range of clients in the professional and collegiate sports arena. He advises universities and collectives on shifting NIL and Title IX requirements, handles injury and noninjury grievances for teams and leagues, and counsels professional athletes on employment and landlord‑tenant issues tied to hiring domestic workers.
Clients value Francis for his ability to pair sophisticated legal analysis with a real grasp of how organizations function day to day. From his consulting experience at a Big Four accounting firm, he has experience helping clients rework company processes and procedures to address operational challenges and legal or regulatory changes. Having worked in-house, he has been in his clients’ shoes and understands the challenges they face. Most importantly, in private practice, he has helped clients successfully navigate and prevail in bet-the-company lawsuits.
Francis’ practice has spanned the full gamut of labor and employment matters, from single-plaintiff Title VII discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, to Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification cases, to Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower retaliation cases, to disputes about executive compensation—and everything in between. Francis has extensive experience prosecuting and defending employee defection cases across the country, including cases involving claims of trade secret misappropriation, breaches of employees’ restrictive covenants (e.g., noncompetition and customer/employee nonsolicitation agreements) and confidentiality agreements, employees’ breaches of their duty of loyalty and other fiduciary duties, unfair and deceptive trade practices, tortious interference with contracts or prospective business relations, Lanham Act violations, and other related claims.
Additionally, Francis regularly defends employers against class and collective actions, particularly those involving wage and hour claims. He has helped clients navigate class and collective actions arising under state and federal law, including claims involving alleged unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, unlawful kickbacks, off-the-clock work, employee/independent contractor misclassification, minimum wage and overtime exemption misclassification, and others. He also assists clients respond to federal, state, and local audits of their employee pay practices.
Outside of the litigation context, Francis assists his clients navigate day-to-day labor and employment issues—to help them best avoid costly litigation. He assists clients with drafting complex employment-related contracts, such as executive compensation agreements, multistate employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and bonus and commission agreements. He assists clients with drafting and revising employment handbooks and policies. He advises clients through employment discipline and separation, as well as any other labor and employment questions that may arise.
Francis also works with a wide range of clients in the professional and collegiate sports arena. He advises universities and collectives on shifting NIL and Title IX requirements, handles injury and noninjury grievances for teams and leagues, and counsels professional athletes on employment and landlord‑tenant issues tied to hiring domestic workers.
Clients value Francis for his ability to pair sophisticated legal analysis with a real grasp of how organizations function day to day. From his consulting experience at a Big Four accounting firm, he has experience helping clients rework company processes and procedures to address operational challenges and legal or regulatory changes. Having worked in-house, he has been in his clients’ shoes and understands the challenges they face. Most importantly, in private practice, he has helped clients successfully navigate and prevail in bet-the-company lawsuits.
- JD, George Mason University School of Law
- BBA, BA, James Madison University
Finance; Criminal Justice
- Colorado
- Not admitted in the District of Columbia. Currently practicing under the supervision of principals of the firm who are members of the District of Columbia Bar.
- Virginia
- US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
- US District Court, District of Colorado
Related Services
Related Key Industries
Francis protects what matters most to employers—their proprietary information, their top talent, and their ability to defend against high‑stakes wage and hour litigation.
More About Francis
With employment rules evolving at every level of government, even well‑resourced employers face real exposure. Francis helps clients cut through the noise, understand what’s changing, and respond with confidence when issues or claims emerge.
Francis’ practice has spanned the full gamut of labor and employment matters, from single-plaintiff Title VII discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, to Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification cases, to Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower retaliation cases, to disputes about executive compensation—and everything in between. Francis has extensive experience prosecuting and defending employee defection cases across the country, including cases involving claims of trade secret misappropriation, breaches of employees’ restrictive covenants (e.g., noncompetition and customer/employee nonsolicitation agreements) and confidentiality agreements, employees’ breaches of their duty of loyalty and other fiduciary duties, unfair and deceptive trade practices, tortious interference with contracts or prospective business relations, Lanham Act violations, and other related claims.
Additionally, Francis regularly defends employers against class and collective actions, particularly those involving wage and hour claims. He has helped clients navigate class and collective actions arising under state and federal law, including claims involving alleged unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, unlawful kickbacks, off-the-clock work, employee/independent contractor misclassification, minimum wage and overtime exemption misclassification, and others. He also assists clients respond to federal, state, and local audits of their employee pay practices.
Outside of the litigation context, Francis assists his clients navigate day-to-day labor and employment issues—to help them best avoid costly litigation. He assists clients with drafting complex employment-related contracts, such as executive compensation agreements, multistate employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and bonus and commission agreements. He assists clients with drafting and revising employment handbooks and policies. He advises clients through employment discipline and separation, as well as any other labor and employment questions that may arise.
Francis also works with a wide range of clients in the professional and collegiate sports arena. He advises universities and collectives on shifting NIL and Title IX requirements, handles injury and noninjury grievances for teams and leagues, and counsels professional athletes on employment and landlord‑tenant issues tied to hiring domestic workers.
Clients value Francis for his ability to pair sophisticated legal analysis with a real grasp of how organizations function day to day. From his consulting experience at a Big Four accounting firm, he has experience helping clients rework company processes and procedures to address operational challenges and legal or regulatory changes. Having worked in-house, he has been in his clients’ shoes and understands the challenges they face. Most importantly, in private practice, he has helped clients successfully navigate and prevail in bet-the-company lawsuits.
Francis’ practice has spanned the full gamut of labor and employment matters, from single-plaintiff Title VII discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, to Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification cases, to Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower retaliation cases, to disputes about executive compensation—and everything in between. Francis has extensive experience prosecuting and defending employee defection cases across the country, including cases involving claims of trade secret misappropriation, breaches of employees’ restrictive covenants (e.g., noncompetition and customer/employee nonsolicitation agreements) and confidentiality agreements, employees’ breaches of their duty of loyalty and other fiduciary duties, unfair and deceptive trade practices, tortious interference with contracts or prospective business relations, Lanham Act violations, and other related claims.
Additionally, Francis regularly defends employers against class and collective actions, particularly those involving wage and hour claims. He has helped clients navigate class and collective actions arising under state and federal law, including claims involving alleged unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, unlawful kickbacks, off-the-clock work, employee/independent contractor misclassification, minimum wage and overtime exemption misclassification, and others. He also assists clients respond to federal, state, and local audits of their employee pay practices.
Outside of the litigation context, Francis assists his clients navigate day-to-day labor and employment issues—to help them best avoid costly litigation. He assists clients with drafting complex employment-related contracts, such as executive compensation agreements, multistate employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and bonus and commission agreements. He assists clients with drafting and revising employment handbooks and policies. He advises clients through employment discipline and separation, as well as any other labor and employment questions that may arise.
Francis also works with a wide range of clients in the professional and collegiate sports arena. He advises universities and collectives on shifting NIL and Title IX requirements, handles injury and noninjury grievances for teams and leagues, and counsels professional athletes on employment and landlord‑tenant issues tied to hiring domestic workers.
Clients value Francis for his ability to pair sophisticated legal analysis with a real grasp of how organizations function day to day. From his consulting experience at a Big Four accounting firm, he has experience helping clients rework company processes and procedures to address operational challenges and legal or regulatory changes. Having worked in-house, he has been in his clients’ shoes and understands the challenges they face. Most importantly, in private practice, he has helped clients successfully navigate and prevail in bet-the-company lawsuits.
- JD, George Mason University School of Law
- BBA, BA, James Madison University
Finance; Criminal Justice
- Colorado
- Not admitted in the District of Columbia. Currently practicing under the supervision of principals of the firm who are members of the District of Columbia Bar.
- Virginia
- US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
- US District Court, District of Colorado