Joe Sokolowski is an accomplished employment litigator with more than 35 years of experience in courtrooms across the country. He defends employers in complex, high stakes collective/class action litigation involving Federal (FLSA) and state wage and hour claims. Recent examples of Joe’s courtroom success include:
- Defeating conditional certification of collective/class action in FLSA misclassification case in Middle District of Tennessee Federal Court.
- Obtaining voluntary dismissal of FLSA putative class allegations in FLSA “off-the-clock” litigation.
- Obtaining dismissal of putative class/collective action litigation in Texas Federal District Court through class/collective action waiver in arbitration agreement.
- Obtaining summary judgment dismissal of all FLSA claims in a nationwide class of retail store managers.
- Defeating Rule 23 class certification of Illinois sales representative overtime claims.
- Obtaining summary judgment dismissal of all Plaintiffs’ FLSA and North Dakota state law claims in multi-Plaintiff on-call time litigation.
- Obtaining summary judgment dismissal of all claims in a certified class under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, affirmed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Obtaining a stay of a putative class action case in New York Federal District Court and an order requiring Plaintiffs to pay Defendants’ attorneys’ fees.
- Obtaining dismissal of putative class/collective action litigation in Colorado Federal District Court through class/collective action waiver in arbitration agreement.
Another significant part of Joe’s practice is representing organizations in “bet-the-company” business tort litigation involving non-compete agreements, trade secrets and confidential information. His courtroom victories are regularly sustained in the appellate courts.
Joe’s commitment to excellence in the practice of law has resulted in his recognition in Best Lawyers in America® for Litigation – Labor & Employment in Minnesota, as a Minnesota Super Lawyer for Employment Litigation for 24 consecutive years, as one of Minnesota’s top 40 employment litigators, and as Martindale-Hubbell-AV® Peer-Review Rated since 1998.
Joe developed his strong work ethic working and paying his way through high school, college and law school, with the following odd, and not so odd, jobs: paper boy, janitor, gas station attendant, highway worker, steel company laborer, Alaskan fish processor, assembly line worker, journalist and law clerk.