The Houston Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section (L&E Section) comprises about 500 members representing all perspectives of labor and employment law: plaintiff and defense attorneys, in-house counsel, public sector / government attorneys, and mediators / arbitrators with experience in labor and employment law. The L&E Section strives to provide labor and employment law attorneys in Houston and surrounding areas with networking opportunities and topical seminars.
Monthly CLE lunch meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month in-person at Brennan’s of Houston (and virtually through live webinar). In addition, the L&E Section offers several social functions for its members, including a Holiday Party and table sponsored at the HBA Annual Harvest Party, along with other networking and educational opportunities.
2025-2026 Section Officers
Chair
Abby Kotun, Johnsen Law
Immediate Past Chair
Larry Stuart, Stuart PC
Chair-Elect
Carolyn Martin, Motiva Enterprises LLC
Vice Chair
Luke MacDowall, Littler Mendelson, P.C.
Secretary
Dorian Vandenberg-Rodes, Shellist Lazarz Slobin
Treasurer
Mariah Berry, Muskat Devine LLP
Council Members
Term
Expiring
2026 Jeff McPhaul, Troutman
2026 Ashley Thomas Matthews, Henry Schein
2026 Nandini Sane, Cozen O'Connor
2026 Angeles Cassin, Sheppard Mullin
2026 Ahad Khan, Ahad Khan
2027 Brett Holubeck, Fisher Phillips
2027 Don Foty, Foty Law Group
2027 Deidra Norris, Government
2027 Gregg Rosenberg, Mediation
2027 Ashlee Grant, Baker Hostetler
2028 Sasha Vaikhman, Mediation Maven
2028 Alan Bush, Bush Mediation
2028 Kathleen B. Colt, Roach Gannon
2028 Lloyd S. van Oostenrijk, EEOC
2028 Nallely Rodriguez , Quanta Services
2028 Michelle Mahony, Murphy Oil Corporation
Member Details
Section Members: 497
Section Dues: $35
Meetings
$40 for section members
$45 for non-section members
$15 for virtual attendees
Section Resources
Latest L&E Presentations
- Inside the Storm: Investigations, Whistleblowers & Navigating Corporate Crisis (May 12, 2026)
- Fifth Circuit Update - The Top Fifth Circuit Employment Law Cases of 2025 (April 14, 2026)
- The Texas Business Court Builds on Its Inaugural Year — With Expanded Jurisdiction Over Trade Secrets (January 13, 2026)
- Rule 30(b)(6) Depositions: Procedure and Practice (November 11,2025)
- A Conversation with the EEOC: Priorities, Trends, and What is New at EEOC (September 9, 2025)
- Maximize Resolution’s Value: The Ethical Touchdown Before The Endzone (August 12, 2025)
- Trump 2.0: Executive Orders, Enforcement Actions, Immigration, Oh My! (June 10, 2025)
- Can your FLSA Settlement Pass the Judge (April 30, 2025)
- The Top 5th Circuit Employment Cases of 2024 and 2025 (April 8, 2025)
- From Hiring to Firing: AI's Growing Intersection with Employment Law Issues (February 11, 2025)
- Reasonable Accommodations and the Interactive Process (November 12, 2024)
- The Impact of Recent Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Cases on Your Employment Practice (September 10, 2024)
- The Future of Corporate DEI Initiatives – What’s an Employer or Plaintiff’s Lawyer to Do?(June 11, 2024)
- 2024 Update on Data Privacy Regulations and Trade Secret Protection(May 14, 2024)
- U.S. EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan FY 2024-2028 ( April 9, 2024)
- The Care and Feeding of Senior Executives – Agreements, Compensation, Discrimination, and Non-Competes (July 11, 2023)
- One Year After Dobbs: The Impact on Texas Employers (May 9, 2023)
- New Protections for Pregnant Workers & Parents: The PWFA and the PUMP Act (April 11, 2023)
- Updates to Chapter 21, Texas Labor Code; Ending Forced Arbitration Act; and Speak Out Act (February 14, 2023)
- Non-Competes and Other Ancillary Matters (October 11, 2022)
- Intersection of Employment and Criminal Law (September 13, 2022)
- Top Fifth Circuit Employment Cases of 2021-2022 (August 9, 2022)
- 2022 Supreme Court Update (July 21, 2022)
Don't miss out! Follow the Labor & Employment Section LinkedIn page.
Section Committees
By-Laws Committee: chaired by Hessam Parzivand and Radha Thiagarajan
Holiday Party Committee: chaired by Abby Kotun, Daniel Ramirez, Dennis Clifford, and Larry Stuart
Scholarship Committee: chaired by Abby Kotun, Angeles Cassin, and Mauro Ramirez
Social Media Committee: chaired by Kelline Linton
Website Committee: chaired by Angeles Cassin
The Timothy Bowne Fellowship
In Memoriam Timothy Bowne; 2013-2014 HBA Labor & Employment Law Section Chair
The Timothy Bowne Fellowship provides a $3,000 grant to one current law student (1L or 2L) who works in an unpaid
summer internship for a governmental entity in the greater Houston area and expresses an interest in labor and employment law.
Click here to apply for The Timothy Bowne Fellowship.
Past Events
Maximize Resolution’s Value: The Ethical Touchdown Before The Endzone
August 12, 2025
The HBA Labor & Employment Law Section hosted its monthly CLE Luncheon at Brennan's of Houston. The panelists shared their insights and practical tips about strategic timing of mediation—balancing the risk of mounting fees with the potential leverage of a client’s strongest position—while honoring ethical duties to explore resolution alternatives.
