Overview
Paul Evans is a partner in the Employment Law Department and based in the firm’s New York office. For over 20 years, Paul has represented employers at the U.S. state, federal and appellate level in employment discrimination class actions, ERISA class actions, employment testing and validation matters, wage and hour class and collective actions, and multi-plaintiff and other complex labor and employment litigation.
Paul has extensive experience representing employers in all forms of employment discrimination, wage and hour, and ERISA matters. A skilled litigator and practical counselor, Paul defends clients in the entertainment, retail, telecommunications, technology, and insurance industries with matters in jurisdictions across the U.S. He has deep experience with employment class and collective actions, ERISA class actions, government agency actions, background check and Fair Credit Reporting Act matters, employment testing, test validation, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, wage and hour advice and litigation, workforce change initiatives, and succession planning.
Paul also works with experts on statistical and financial analyses in employment counseling and disputes, including in discrimination, ERISA, and wage and hour class and collective action litigation, as well as in supporting internal diversity and pay equity projects.
Recognitions
- Chambers USA, Labor & Employment – New York (2024)
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, J.D. 1999
- Allegheny College, B.A. 1996
Representations
- A nationwide retailer in one of the largest employment discrimination class actions ever filed, obtaining a preliminary denial of class certification after over four years of litigation.
- A nationwide employer in multiple wage and hour collective and class actions challenging independent contractor status under federal and various state laws.
- A company in a long-running ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class action, successfully defeating certification of the class and trying the claims of 16 bellwether individual actions.
- A multi-employer pension plan in ERISA class action alleging self-dealing and breaches of fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence, successfully obtaining complete dismissal on a motion to dismiss.
- Employers in the media, retail, and financial service industries in a high-profile litigation, including to successful defense verdicts.
- Multiple employers in a Fair Credit Reporting Act and state Fair Chance Law class action litigation.
- Employers in dozens of FINRA, AAA, and JAMS arbitrations.
- A large public relations employer in a nationwide gender discrimination class action.
- A large retailer in numerous Fair Credit Reporting Act class actions, including one covering over 400,000 class members.
- A national company in successfully arbitrating the first bellwether business dispute covering a topic that impacted hundreds of individuals nationwide.
- A large automotive company in its nationwide reorganization, including large-scale transfer of operations and related employee separations.
Matters may have been handled prior to joining Paul Hastings.
Engagement & Publications
- Speaker, “Independent Contractors and Joint Employment: Mitigating Risks for Employers,” ACC Greater Philadelphia Employment & Labor Law CLE Institute, March 2017
- Co-author, “EEOC Won’t Budge on EEO-1 Pay Data Collection,” Law360, July 20, 2016