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Amy Morrissey Turk Partner

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Norfolk T +1 757 640 3711 F fax +1 757 640 3942
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Amy is co-chair of the firm’s Consumer Products & Retail industry team. She has significant experience working on complex discrimination matters and wage and hour class actions throughout the country for companies in a variety of industries — most notably the retail industry. She offers clients a broad spectrum of legal experience gained both as a seasoned litigator for business-focused law firms and also as assistant general counsel in charge of employment legal matters for a multibillion-dollar retail corporation.

Amy understands first-hand the legal, financial, political, and publicity challenges clients face when managing employment litigation risk and that understanding helps inform the legal guidance she provides. Her litigation practice is primarily focused on employment related defense issues, such as internal investigations, wage and hour, public accommodation access, hostile work environment and discrimination defense, gender equity, and leave issues.

Amy returned to McGuireWoods after 11 years overseeing the nationwide employment litigation portfolio for a Fortune 150 retailer. In this role, Amy led and directed both internal investigations and the litigation strategy of the company in employment matters pending before arbitrators, agencies at all governmental levels, and state and federal courts throughout the United States. She has extensive experience managing Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) representative actions in California and nationwide class and collective claims. She also provided compliance and strategic guidance to executive and field management teams in the corporate, retail, and distribution divisions.

Amy is an experienced trial attorney who has represented management in all aspects of state and federal court employment-related litigation, as well as before various arbitration tribunals.  She also has defended EEO, DOJ, and DOL matters throughout the country

Amy has a long track record of defeating class certification, obtaining summary judgment, securing dispositive victories on early motions practice, and bringing complicated cases to early and favorable resolutions for her clients. She has significant knowledge of all phases of litigation, including trying cases in first- and second-chair roles before a jury and bench, preparing and deposing fact and expert witnesses, preparing and arguing discovery and dispositive motions, negotiating settlements in various forums, overseeing mock jury trials, and preparing appellate briefs.

While Amy’s practice focuses on litigation-based issues, she is an accomplished counselor who helps corporate clients across industries find practical business solutions to their legal issues. She has firsthand knowledge of the challenges corporate clients face and is committed to providing cost-effective solutions to complicated legal matters.

“I understand the demands placed on corporations to obtain cost-effective solutions to complicated legal matters and am eager to put my litigation experience and business perspective to work for McGuireWoods’ clients.”

Experience

  • Leads and directs the nationwide litigation strategy of class, collective, PAGA and single Plaintiff cases for a Fortune 150 retailer facing wage and hour, discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, whistleblower, workplace safety, paid and unpaid leave, and Fair Credit Reporting Act claims.
  • Lead Counsel for a Fortune 150 company who faced over 8000 single plaintiff wage and hour arbitration claims pending before the American Arbitration Association.
  • Leads and directs internal investigations involving sexual harassment, discrimination, hostile work environment, whistleblower, misappropriation of trade secrets, retaliation, and alleged systemic wage and hour violations.
  • Defended multiple single plaintiff and putative class actions alleging interior and exterior accessibility issues in places of public accommodation.
  • Lead employment advisor to the membership of the Retail Litigation Center Defense Division. The Defense Division initiative is aimed to help retail corporate counsel identify mass action employment litigation risk on the front end and proactively implement strategies, policies, practices, procedures, and initiatives to combat that risk.
  • Creates and delivers management and employee training programs as part of Company compliance initiatives.
  • While serving in her corporate legal capacity, led a team that won a complete defense verdict in a certified class jury trial involving 5,400 retail employees alleging violations of California Labor Code requirements regarding electronic access to wage statements.
  • While serving in her corporate legal capacity, led multiple teams that won complete bench and jury defense verdicts in store manager retail exemption cases.
  • Lead counsel who secured a complete jury verdict in a multiday trial in Chesapeake, Virginia, on behalf of a lighting company facing allegations of civil assault and battery allegations under the doctrine of respondeat superior.
  • Defended hundreds of cases involving alleged sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace.
  • Defended hundreds of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cases at the state and federal agency levels for a large national retailer.

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