ZheyaoLi

Zheyao is an experienced class and collective action litigator, having defended companies and individuals in complex cases for more than a decade. More recently, he has developed particular experience in wage and hour cases, including hybrid cases involving both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the laws of various states. Zheyao also has experience helping companies avoid litigation, including conducting internal audits and responding to Department of Labor inquiries.

Zheyao began his career as a class action defense lawyer directly confronting the challenges of the credit crisis and Great Recession. He has helped companies, boards of directors, and officers navigate and defeat allegations of securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, wage and hour violations, ERISA violations, and other claims in many complex cases. He has resolved cases favorably in a variety of ways, from outright dismissal to defeating or limiting class certification, to defending victories on appeal. Whenever possible, Zheyao also seeks to narrow discovery and leverage technological tools to reduce the costs of any necessary electronic discovery.

Zheyao is never afraid to think and act outside the box in service of his clients, such as challenging the constitutionality of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and arguing for a reinterpretation of removal jurisdiction up to the US Supreme Court.

Zheyao believes in aggressively fighting allegations of wrongdoing to protect his clients’ reputations and resolve actual and threatened litigation as quickly and efficiently as possible.