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A four-attorney labor and employment team is in the process of moving from LeClairRyan to Clark Hill, as the former firm’s attorneys look for new opportunities in anticipation of an apparent dissolution.

Rafael Nendel-Flores, the co-leader of LeClairRyan’s national labor and employment practice, and Guillermo Tello both joined the firm in 2018 from Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart. Tello and one associate started at Clark Hill on Monday, while Nendel-Flores and a second associate will start at the firm by Aug. 12.

“We purposefully staggered our exits to make sure we provided uninterrupted service to our clients,” Tello explained.

Nendel-Flores and Tello have worked together since 2015, and when Nendel-Flores moved to LeClairRyan last year, Tello followed shortly afterwards. Nendel-Flores also recruited associate Jose Cabada to Ogletree when he was in charge of recruiting for that firm’s Orange County, California, office, and Cabada will be starting at Clark Hill on Monday. A second associate, Yesi Lagunas, joined LeClairRyan in November after meeting the two partners through the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association. She joined Clark Hill on Monday.

“They’re very excited to have us,” Nendel-Flores said. “From our perspective, we bring a lot of things that are unique to the table.”

Clark Hill said that growing its labor and employment team in California was an important part of its strategic plan.

“California employment law issues are among the most complex in the country, and the addition of this four-lawyer team will be a great asset to our clients,” Clark Hill labor and employment business unit director Paul Boehms said in an email.

Both Nendel-Flores and Tello represent employers in wage and hour class actions. Nendel-Flores’ practice extends into employment tax matters, while Tello shades into prevailing wage disputes.

“Guillermo is also a very talented trial lawyer,” Nendel-Flores said.

The team represents a mix of industries including players in the transportation sector, staffing companies and professional employer organizations. It also stands out by having three of the four attorneys fluent in Spanish, a rarity on the defense side but a valuable tool for handling witness interviews and translating workplace policies.

Their move demonstrates the opportunities the two partners see in a full-service firm, after leaving labor and employment specialists Ogletree.

“One of the things that’s also very exciting to Rafael and I, in bringing our team to Clark Hill, is the ability to continue to expand to work that is not labor and employment for our clients,” Tello said.

The team benefited from the brisk demand for labor and employment lawyers in Los Angeles,  hosting discussions with multiple firms and weighing four to five offers before choosing Clark Hill.

“We think Clark Hill is going to be an amazing platform for us to continue to grow our practice,” Nendel-Flores said.

Multiple groups of lawyers have left LeClairRyan in recent weeks, amid reports from sources familiar with the firm that dissolution proceedings are under way. Just 169 attorneys were listed on the firm’s website Tuesday, down from 191 last week. At its peak in 2016, its head count was 353 lawyers, according to Am Law 200 data.

Co-founder and name partner Gary LeClair, as well as attorneys David Lay and Andrew White, all joined regional firm Williams Mullen in late July, shortly after a team of 15 aviation lawyers spread across multiple LeClairRyan offices moved to Fox Rothschild. The Philadelphia-based firm has been floated as a landing place for additional LeClairRyan attorneys. Barclay Damon, with a footprint across New York and elsewhere in the northeast, is also reputedly considering bringing lawyers from the firm aboard.

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