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Duane Morris Attorneys Named to 2027 Lawdragon Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers Guide

October 2, 2026

Duane Morris Attorneys Named to 2027 Lawdragon Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers Guide

October 2, 2026

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PHILADELPHIA, October 2, 2026—Sixteen Duane Morris LLP attorneys have been named to the 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers Guide.

The 20th edition of the guide represents the nation’s best advisors on workplace mobility, employee benefits and executive compensation, traditional labor matters, wage-and-hour class action disputes, and discrimination and noncompete agreements.

Caroline M. Austin concentrates her practice in employment litigation, employment policy development, preventative counseling and training designed to avoid litigation, unionization and employee attrition. Appearing before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, Austin represents clients in connection with a broad range of labor and employment matters, including age, race, gender, national origin and disability discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, restrictive covenants, breach of contract and wage-and-hour laws.

Joseph A. Ciucci is a member of the firm's governing Partners Board. Ciucci practices in the areas of traditional labor law, employment litigation and employee relations matters. He has successfully defended discrimination, harassment and wrongful discharge actions in federal and state courts and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state agencies and obtained injunctions enforcing noncompetition agreements on behalf of management clients.

W. Michael Gradisek chairs the firm's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. He counsels employers and plans sponsors on a daily basis regarding the requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA and has advised clients with respect to fiduciary responsibilities, prohibited transactions and day-to-day administration of tax-qualified and ERISA-covered plans. His practice involves counseling employers and executives on the design and compliance of nonqualified deferred compensation, severance and other executive agreements with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, and he routinely advises clients on equity compensation issues.

Jamie Gross is a partner in the firm’s Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. She represents local, regional and national employers in a broad range of employment matters, with a particular focus on complex wage-and-hour litigation, class actions and Private Attorneys General Act representative actions throughout California. Gross regularly advises clients across a variety of industries, including the energy sector, on employment-related risk management and compliance strategies.

Delia A. Isvoranu is a trial attorney with extensive experience in the litigation defense of all types of employment-related matters, wage-and-hour claims, class actions and commercial disputes. She has tried well over a dozen cases in various venues involving a broad range of employment claims, as well as commercial breach of contract and fraud actions. She has obtained summary judgment in dozens of employment matters and has also defeated class certification in multiple wage-and-hour putative class actions.  Isvoranu has also handled a number of appeals as a respondent in state and federal court and has argued before appellate courts on numerous occasions.

Brian L. Johnsrud is managing partner of the firm's Silicon Valley office and a member of the firm's governing Partners Board. Johnsrud has represented companies in their most challenging employment law matters for more than 25 years. He anticipates and solves problems so that companies may focus on their business. His goal is to provide responsive, practical and concise advice in a personable manner.

Alex W. Karasik is a core member of Duane Morris’ Class Action Defense Team and multiple artificial intelligence committees. Karasik defends businesses in employment law and privacy matters ranging from bet-the-company class actions to high-stakes, single-plaintiff lawsuits and administrative charges. He represents clients in a broad range of industries, including restaurants, hotels, sporting venues, retailers, technology companies, healthcare, consumer products, food manufacturers, construction, automotive manufacturers, transportation, logistics and staffing entities.

Eve I. Klein is past chair of the Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group and serves as the firm’s employment counsel. Klein has over 30 years of experience representing businesses in all aspects of employment law, management labor relations and employment-related litigation. Klein has extensive experience advising clients about their rights and obligations regarding the complex and frequently changing federal, state and local laws and regulations which affect the workplace. She counsels clients on day-to-day workplace matters, in mergers and acquisitions, and in protecting company goodwill and proprietary information.

Gerald L. Maatman Jr., chair of the Class Action Defense Team, has nearly four decades’ experience of practicing law and has defended some of the most significant bet-the-company cases ever filed against corporate America. Maatman has represented companies, executive teams and boards across the country in class action litigation, ranging in size from thousands to hundreds of thousands of claims by employees. He defended and defeated the largest systemic enforcement action ever brought in the history of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the first attorney general prosecution of a Wall Street company for workplace discrimination and harassment, and the largest wage-and-hour class and collective actions ever brought in Florida and New York. While he is known to be a fierce litigator, he also helps his clients anticipate large-scale litigation risks before they happen to prevent issues that could turn into litigation. 

John A. Nixon is a member of the firm's governing Partners Board. Nixon practices in the area of employee benefits and executive compensation. He represents executives, plan sponsors and product providers in a range of matters including executive employment, compensation and separation negotiations; federal tax compliance for pension, retirement, deferred compensation and equity plans; and fiduciary compliance under ERISA and state laws. He also represents plan sponsors before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor in determination letter applications, plan audits and corrective procedures under IRS and DOL remedial programs.

John A. Reade Jr. is a partner in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. His practice encompasses the entire area of employee benefits, including executive compensation and severance agreements, qualified and nonqualified plans, health and welfare plans, ERISA litigation, employee benefits issues in corporate transactions, fiduciary-related issues involving prohibited transactions, qualified plan advice and representation of clients before the Department of Labor, IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Jennifer A. Riley, vice chair of the Class Action Defense Team, has defended companies faced with significant complex litigation matters for more than two decades. Riley regularly defends companies facing class actions, collective actions, pattern or practice lawsuits and other types of representative proceedings, ranging in size from dozens to tens of thousands of claims. Working on the forefront of the developing law in an ever-changing arena, Riley regularly develops strategies for navigating some of the largest challenges faced by corporate America today and counsels employers confronted with a range of complex theories that span from claims of discrimination or sexual harassment to myriad types of alleged wage-and-hour and statutory privacy violations.

Bronwyn L. Roberts handles employment matters for clients ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies. She has a broad-based practice in the area of employment, helping clients to minimize risk and resolve disputes through practical employment solutions and, when necessary, litigation. She has conducted numerous high-profile, sensitive investigations of employee misconduct and disloyalty, and she has helped guide employers through difficult resolutions.

Jonathan A. Segal is a partner in the Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. He is also the founder of the Duane Morris Institute, which provides training for human resource professionals, in-house counsel, benefits administrators and managers at the firm’s offices, at client sites and by way of webinar on myriad employment, labor, benefits and immigration matters.

Thomas G. Servodidio is vice chairman of the firm and also serves on the firm's Executive Committee. For over 30 years, Servodidio has represented corporate clients and senior executives in all aspects of complex employment law and management labor relations. He represents businesses in all types of employment litigation, including the defense of employment discrimination claims, wrongful discharge cases, wage-and-hour litigation, employment contract matters and restrictive covenant litigation. Servodidio counsels businesses on a variety of employment matters such as the preparation of human resource policies, the development of diversity and inclusion programs, affirmative action programs, employee investigations, reductions in the workforce and OSHA citations. In addition, he represents management in representation and unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and handles collective bargaining negotiations as well as grievances and arbitrations under collective bargaining agreements. He also negotiates and drafts executive employment agreements for both employers and senior executives.

Kevin E. Vance is managing partner of the firm's Boca Raton office. Vance represents businesses in litigation matters, including those involving employees. He also advises businesses on compliance with federal, state and local laws involving the employment relationship. Vance represents businesses in a wide variety of litigation matters, including matters alleging breach of contract, breach of noncompete covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, employment discrimination/retaliation, negligence and unpaid wages. He has particular experience representing companies engaged in the healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, staffing and hospitality industries. Vance also represents businesses in ERISA litigation matters and ADA public accommodation lawsuits.

About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 900 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries. Duane Morris has been recognized by BTI Consulting as both a client service leader and a highly recommended law firm.