Melissa Hensley, senior counsel in McGuireWoods’ Dallas office, was selected for a Texas Diversity Council Top 50 Women Lawyers Award honoring accomplished women lawyers, judges, executives and other leaders in the law profession. Winners will be recognized at a Sept. 25 Legal Diversity Week awards banquet.
Hensley focuses on the defense of collective/class actions and individual claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII and state discrimination laws. She has represented employers facing wage-and-hour claims in more than 40 U.S. district courts and defeated wage-and-hour class certification in multiple federal jurisdictions. Hensley has won more than 20 summary judgments in U.S. district courts affirming that the executive exemption for overtime pay applies to retail store managers.
“I am proud to be recognized among these talented women lawyers and legal leaders in Texas,” Hensley said.
Hensley is a former chair of the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center Board of Trustees. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of San Diego Law School and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma with special distinction.
Legal Diversity Week is an initiative by the National Diversity Council, a nonprofit organization that supports and advocates for diversity and inclusion.