James C. Crowley
Counsel
Areas of Focus
- Labor & Employment
- Labor Relations Strategic Advice & Counseling
- Administrative & Regulatory Litigation
- ERISA/Employee Benefits Litigation
- Executive Disputes & Agreements
- Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Pension & Benefits Strategy
- Whistleblower Litigation
- Employment Discrimination/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Advocacy
- Workplace Safety/OSHA Litigation & Counseling
- Workplace Investigations, Civil Rights Audits & DEI Practices Advice
- Wage & Hour/Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Litigation & Counseling
- Labor & Employment Issues Affecting Government Contractors
- Focuses on complex labor and employment litigation in federal and state courts and arbitration.
- Represents clients in challenges to regulatory actions of administrative agencies.
- Develops collective bargaining and labor relations strategies.
James Crowley’s national labor and employment practice handles a broad range of matters involving:
- The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
- The Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)
- The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- Whistleblower laws, including the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and the Dodd-Frank Act
- The Occupational Safety and Health Act
- The Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Antidiscrimination and sexual harassment laws
- Wage and hour laws.
James represents employers from a broad array of industries, including sports leagues and clubs, entertainment, education, media, energy, manufacturing, communications, retail, financial services, private equity, hedge funds, gaming and hospitality.
James has experience in federal district court, the courts of appeals, state courts, before administrative agencies and in the arbitration of employment disputes. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic labor and employment questions that arise from pending legislation, government investigations, union organizing and collective bargaining, reductions in force and threatened litigation. Beyond litigation, James leads the labor and employment aspects of major corporate transactions.
Before joining the firm, James clerked for Chief Judge Jerome A. Holmes of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and Chief Justice Peter J. Maassen of the Alaska Supreme Court.
- Defeated the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) attempt to expand joint employment liability through its 2023 rulemaking, 88 Fed. Reg. 73,946.
- Successfully represented companies in all manner of labor disputes arising under the NLRA, the LMRA, other federal labor statutes and collective bargaining agreements.
- Obtained reversals of several precedents at the NLRB, including the rule that employees were presumptively entitled to use their employer’s email system to engage in concerted activity.
- Defended major collegiate athletic conference against claim that student-athletes its players were employees.
- Successfully defended a professional sports league against tort claims preempted by the LMRA.
EducationJ.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 2014
A.B., Georgetown University, 2008
J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 2014
A.B., Georgetown University, 2008
ClerkshipsU.S.C.A., 10th Circuit
Alaska Supreme Court
U.S.C.A., 10th Circuit
Alaska Supreme Court
Bar AdmissionsDistrict of Columbia
Illinois
District of Columbia
Illinois
