Washington D.C. Employment Law Update : Washington D.C. Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Virginia, Tyson's Corner

Littler Mendelson’s Government Affairs Team closely monitors, tracks and reports on legislation, regulations, federal agency activity, and executive orders that impact the labor and employment landscape. Based in Washington, D.C., the Government Affairs Team aims to keep employers informed of the new workplace agenda as it unfolds, and provide guidance on how best to prepare for and comply with these changes.

Ilyse Schuman, a shareholder in Littler’s Washington, DC office, joins the firm's Government Affairs practice to provide clients with strategic counsel and substantive knowledge on legislative and regulatory developments impacting employers. A former top congressional staffer and policy advisor, she worked on the United States (U.S.) Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) from 2001 to 2008.

Ms. Schuman began her work in the Senate as Chief Labor Counsel for Senator Mike Enzi on the Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training where she led legislative and oversight activities on issues pertaining to employment discrimination, workplace safety, labor relations and wage and hour issues. She later served as Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the HELP Committee. Ms. Schuman was pivotal in the development of key legislative initiatives in the areas of labor, employment, pensions and health care, including the  groundbreaking Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).   She was a John C. Stennis Congressional Felllow during the 109th Congress.  After leaving the Senate, Ms. Schuman joined the National Electrical Manufactures Association, where she held the position as Vice President and Managing Director of the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance. Additionally, Schuman had served as in-house counsel at a large manufacturing company where she advised the company on human resource matters.
 
Ms. Schuman earned her B.A. cum laude from Tufts University and her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center.  She and is admitted to practice in Illinois and New York, and her admission is pending in the District of Columbia.

Jay Sumner is one of the leaders of the Littler Governmental Affairs Team and edits Littler’s Washington DC Employment Law Update blog. A shareholder in Littler’s Albuquerque, New Mexico office, Mr. Sumner edited and co-authored the Littler Report “Transition to a New (Work)Day: An Initial Look at Workplace Change in the Obama Era” and is a frequent speaker on what labor and employment changes may occur during the Obama Administration and the possible impact on employers. Mr. Sumner has been quoted by: BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal Online, BNA, CCH, and Seacoastonline.com. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Sumner served with the Democratic Leadership Council during the Clinton Administration working on legislative initiatives and political outreach.

Aside from Governmental Affairs, Mr. Sumner’s practice focuses on traditional labor law, where he specializes in collective bargaining and handling representation matters for a wide variety of employers. His experience includes addressing positive employment and union-related issues, including collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, election campaigns, proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, and other labor agencies in the United States and Canada, and guiding clients through the myriad of labor and employment issues associated with business restructuring. Mr. Sumner earned his undergraduate degree from Rhodes College, and received his law degree from the University of Tennessee School of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude. Mr. Sumner is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and the State of Tennessee.

Peter Susser, a shareholder in Littler's Washington, DC, office, has represented employers and trade associations on legislative and regulatory matters for many years. Mr. Susser began his career as an attorney in the Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, and he has been involved in many policy and compliance issues before that agency's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Employment Standards Administration, as well as the EEOC and NLRB. A registered lobbyist in the U.S. Congress, he has coordinated legislative strategy, and prepared Congressional testimony and regulatory comments, on a range of workplace issues.

Mr. Susser received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and earned law degrees from the College of William and Mary and Georgetown University Law Center. A member of the Bar in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland, he is the author of several employment law books and dozens of articles on workplace issues that have appeared in law journals, human resources publications and industry periodicals.

Tammy McCutchen, a shareholder in Littler’s Washington, D.C. office, is a leading authority on wage and hour issues, and focuses her practice on counseling clients on employment matters, particularly those related to the minimum wage, overtime, and child labor provisions of the Fair labor Standards Act (FLSA). Ms. McCutchen has served as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, where she was responsible for administering and enforcing some of the United States’ most comprehensive labor laws. Her responsibilities included managing an annual budget of $160 million and 1,400 employees in more than 250 offices across the country. Ms. McCutchen was the primary author of the August 2004 revisions to the “white collar” overtime exemptions regulations, 29 C.F.R. Part 541, representing the first major changes to the DOL overtime regulations in 50 years.

Ms. McCutchen earned her B.A. summa cum laude from Western Illinois University and her J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law, where she served as editor of the law review. Following law school she clerked for Judge Daniel A. Manion on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She is listed in Chambers USA as a leading employment attorney in the District of Columbia, and is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Illinois.