Mediation Services to End Employment Litigation | 857-232-6400
About Us
WDR aims to limit or resolve workplace disputes through efficient and cost-effective mediation services.
We only get involved in a case when all parties have agreed to use our services, and when engaged as a mediator we will maintain a steadfast adherence to neutrality and confidentiality.
We have over 50 years of collective experience representing employers and employees in a wide range of workplace disputes, including issues of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wages, misclassification, employment agreements, benefits, and more.
As attorneys, we have litigated hundreds of individual cases and class action cases (some involving thousands of employees and tens of millions of dollars in damages) from the earliest stages, through intensive discovery, and all the way to trials and appeals. Many of those cases have settled, either through direct negotiations or through mediations with a wide range of neutrals, so we also have extensive experience as advocates with the dispute resolution process. As a result, we have seen what works and what doesn’t work with a wide range of clients. That experience informs our approach to effective mediation when serving as neutrals.
In addition to the lessons garnered from extensive experience, we have completed formal training in dispute resolution techniques, including a training program that meets the requirements outlined in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, sec. 23C and Rule 8(c)(i) of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution.
Our Team
Hillary Schwab
Hillary is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School, where she was an editor of the Columbia Law Review. After clerking for judges at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and then the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, she served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Wisconsin Department of Justice before entering private practice. From more than two decades of litigating cases around the country, she brings a deep reservoir of skills and knowledge to the negotiating table, including Litigation Experience, Diverse Client Skills, Dispute Resolution Training & Expertise, Legal Knowledge, and Analytical Abilities.
Litigation Experience
Over the course of her career, Hillary has litigated hundreds of cases in state and federal courts across the country, from California to Massachusetts. While she has brought most cases to a close through settlements, she has tried numerous cases and handled appeals in state and federal court, including the U.S. Supreme Court. She regularly has been named as a Super Lawyer in the area of employment law and has been named both a Top Woman of Law and a Massachusetts Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Diverse Client Skills
Hillary has worked with clients from a wide variety of backgrounds, including academics, restaurant workers, exotic dancers, attorneys, truck drivers, and more. She has been recognized for her ability to work successfully with opposing counsel, clients, co-counsel, and courts who present a wide variety of personality styles and challenges. Indeed, Hillary's first instinct is to run towards a problem in order to solve it, rather than to run from it in order to avoid it.
Dispute Resolution Training & Expertise
Hilllary has completed the 30-hour mediation training that meets the requirements outlined in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, sec. 23C and Rule 8(c)(i) of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution. She also has participated in dozens of mediations of individual and class action cases, learning valuable lessons from dozens of professional mediators about what it is effective and what creates obstacles to a successful resolution.
Legal Knowledge
Hillary has developed an extensive knowledge of employment law and class actions. She was among the first attorneys in Massachusetts to develop an expertise with wage class actions, including statutes governing tipped employees, the use of arbitration agreements, and independent contractor misclassification. At the same time, she has handled a large number of individual cases, covering both discrimination and wage claims, including cases that have resulted in trials or ground-breaking appeals. All of these experiences have provided a depth and breadth of legal knowledge that make Hillary a keen evaluator of the opportunities and risks presented in different cases.
Analytical Abilities
Hillary has a wide range of analytical skills. She is equally comfortable delving into the minutiae of legal doctrine or analyzing voluminous evidence, including numerical data. Having worked with a diverse range of experts over her legal career, she is capable of tackling new subject matter. Many of the class action cases Hillary has handled during her career have involved classes with thousands of workers, requiring complex analyses of large sets of data.
Steve Churchill
After studying at Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Steve has practiced employment law for over 30 years. Over the course of his career, he has represented employers (from Fortune 100 to small businesses) and employees (from high-level executives to low-wage workers) in individual and class-action cases. He has tried numerous cases to verdict, handled dozens of appeals, and litigated hundreds of cases to judgment or settlement. He brings valuable background and skills to the negotiating table, including Litigation Experience, Diverse Client Skills, Dispute Resolution Training & Expertise, Legal Knowledge, and Analytical Abilities.
Litigation Experience
Steve has litigated hundreds of cases over the course of his career. Most of those cases ended with a negotiated resolution, sometimes early in the case and sometimes after years of intense litigation or appeals. He also has tried many cases, including jury trials and bench trials in state and federal courts. Likewise, he has handled evidentiary hearings before arbitrators and in various state and federal agencies, such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance. At the appellate level, he has argued dozens of cases before various courts, such as the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. He repeatedly has been named as a Super Lawyer in the area of employment law, has appeared on the Massachusetts Top 100 list, and was named as a Massachusetts Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Diverse Client Skills
Earlier in his career, Steve represented employers for 10 years, including large corporations, small family companies, and a wide range of other businesses. As a result, he understands the issues that employers face, including budget limitations, the desire to discourage other litigation, the importance of confidentiality, and the role of insurance, among other things. He also has represented hundreds of employees, including top executives, salespeople, and low-wage workers from diverse backgrounds. He understands, from both professional and personal experience, the critical importance of understanding any employer's or employee's unique background and concerns.
Dispute Resolution Training & Expertise
Steve’s background in dispute resolution includes both formal training and practical experience. He has taken an intensive three-week Negotiation Workshop at Harvard Law School and an additional 30-hour mediation training that meets the requirements outlined in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, sec. 23C and Rule 8(c)(i) of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution. As importantly, Steve has participated in dozens of mediations as an advocate. That experience has offered valuable lessons about what works and what does not work during mediations.
Legal Knowledge
Steve’s knowledge of employment law is broad and deep. He has litigated virtually every type of employment claim: discrimination (including disparate treatment and disparate impact cases), retaliation, harassment, denial of reasonable accommodations, wage-and-hour violations (misclassification, non-payment of wages, unpaid commissions, overtime), non-competes, ERISA, and more. He has extensive experience with class and collective actions, including the unique issues involved with class settlements. While maintaining an active practice, Steve has also served on the faculty of Harvard Law School since 2007, regularly teaching courses on advocacy skills, strategies for social change, and employment discrimination.
Analytical Abilities
In addition to his background and experience with legal analysis, Steve brings other analytical abilities to the table. He is a fan of technology and strives to use it as efficiently and effectively as possible, including the use of spreadsheets to analyze large sets of data. He is versed in and comfortable with basic principles of economics and statistics, including expected value analyses and other quantitative techniques. He has worked with a wide range of experts, including doctors, economists, psychologists, and statisticians.