Wisdom and Integrity Define Laura Salerno Owens’ Approach to Team Building and Success
Our conversation with Laura Salerno Owens, Shareholder and President at Markowitz Herbold, was so inspiring, it caused both Suzanne and I to reexamine and expand our own ideas about leadership. Our discussion covers a broad range of topics with Laura’s wit, humor, and humility a consistent unifying thread.
Recognized for her organizational leadership and achievements in the courtroom on both the local and national levels, Laura is a brilliant attorney and passionate advocate for justice, truth, and excellence in the workplace. She is also a fantastic litigator who offers her clients unique insight into their legal battles. She has successfully represented employers and employees in hundreds of disputes, ranging from single-person contract disputes to multi-thousand-person class actions. One client says about Laura: “If you are in the fight of your life, you want Laura in your corner.”
Foundational to her many successes is Laura’s heart for people and commitment to the success and empowerment of her teams. Enjoy learning more about Laura on this galvanizing and fun episode of Hiring For Good!
Laura’s Bio
Laura is the go-to lawyer for clients in high-stakes employment and business disputes because of her strategic approach and proven track record of success. She represents clients in a variety of employment law issues including misappropriation of trade secrets, wage and hour disputes, discrimination charges, sexual harassment allegations, whistleblower claims, and noncompetition/nonsolicitation agreements. She has a broad range of experience litigating claims in state and federal court arising under the Equal Pay Act, Family Medical Leave Act, the Oregon Family Leave Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as representing clients before the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She also helps clients navigate a variety of business matters, ranging from class actions to breach of contract to breach of fiduciary duty to shareholder and partnership disputes.
Laura is equally adept at advocating for her clients in the courtroom and advising them in the boardroom. She brings a trial lawyer’s perspective to disputes, which enables her to quickly get to the heart of legal issues and develop a strategy to solve often complex problems. A natural “people person,” Laura communicates effectively with business owners, opposing counsel, and judges. One of her clients recently said "Laura provided good counsel in the negotiation of a complicated retirement agreement. Her assistance was done in a timely manner, on budget, with outstanding client service. Her advocacy led to a successful outcome for my case." Another business owner Laura represented in enforcing a non-competition agreement commented, "We got a speedy resolution that met our objectives. I am so impressed with the help she provided." Laura is also an ardent advocate. As one client put it "When life throws you a curveball, grab a bat and swing! Thanks, Laura for being our bat."
Laura has significant experience in state and federal courts, mediations, and arbitrations. She has first-chair jury trial experience, has taken and defended numerous depositions, and has argued key pretrial and dispositive motions. Laura also serves as an attorneys fees expert and is retained to testify at trial and at attorney fee hearings.
Laura has given more than 100 presentations and continuing education courses on various topics, including general employment law, anti-discrimination and harassment, social media in the workplace, and pay equity. She has served as the keynote speaker at large conferences such as Oregon Health & Science University’s Women in Academic Medicine and she presents to various business groups ranging from Disrupt HR, Rotary, and others. She has also presented numerous times on COVID-19 related issues such as reopening the workplace, social distancing policies, safety in the workplace, and remote working policies.
Laura was recognized by the Oregon Commission for Women as a 2021 Women of Achievement honoree. Additionally, she is recognized by Chambers USA for Labor & Employment and Commercial Litigation, Best Lawyers in America, named a Super Lawyer by Oregon Super Lawyers, recognized by Lawdragon as one of the top civil rights and plaintiff's employment lawyers in the U.S., honored by the University of Oregon School of Law as an Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2016, selected by the Portland Business Journal as a “Forty Under 40” honoree in 2018, and honored as a Woman of Influence by the Portland Business Journal. In 2019, Portland Business Journal's parent company, the Business Journals, recognized Laura as one of the top 100 Legal Influencers in the U.S.