William J. Anthony makes a lateral move to Blank Rome. Courtesy photo
A former Jackson Lewis firm co-chair, who helped found its class action and complex litigation practice group, is taking his employment law background to Blank Rome, as he looks to join a firm with more diversified practice areas.
Employment and class action litigator William J. Anthony last week transitioned from his post at labor and employment law firm Jackson Lewis, where he led the class action and complex litigation group and recently served as co-chair for an 18-month stint, to join Blank Rome's labor and employment and class action defense groups as a partner at the New York office.
Leaders at the Philadelphia-based Am Law 100 firm say they're looking to draw on Anthony's more than three decades of experience in representing employers, as the firm expects a "spike in litigation" as a result of the challenges that 2020 has presented to companies.
"The U.S. workforce is living through a time of crisis and uncertainty due to the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," Jason E. Reisman, partner and co-chair of the labor and employment group at Blank Rome, said in a statement Monday. "We look forward to drawing on Will's impressive litigation talent and experience, as well as his ability to inspire and drive teams, to help deliver positive outcomes for our clients."
In an interview Monday, Anthony said he expects his work for the last 16 years—defending multiparty actions against companies, especially in the employment and wage space—to continue as his primary focus, with the added ability at Blank Rome to offer clients "broader advice and expertise in issues that crop up over the course of employment class action."
"Blank Rome has tremendous experience and will be very helpful to my practice and the ability to offer my clients the broader range of services," Anthony said. "For example, there's a lot of questions right now regarding structuring, bankruptcy and insurance recovery; Blank Rome affords me the ability to tell clients that we can be a one-stop shop for those kinds of issues."
For Anthony, the prospect of servicing clients with a wide variety of issues that arise in the labor and employment space was a significant draw to Blank Rome, he said.
"I think companies are facing a lot of different but interrelated issues right now due to an evolving legal landscape, and the ability to answer for them questions that crop up in a variety of areas was very attractive to me and I think will best serve clients and companies that I've worked for over the years," Anthony said.
Anthony, who said his first day at Blank Rome was Nov. 13 and within the same week of his last day at Jackson Lewis, said it's too early to comment on whether his clients will follow him to his new practice.
During his 31 years at Jackson Lewis, Anthony's tenure included serving in high-level leadership roles, including firm co-chair from January 2019 to June 2020, board member from 2005 to 2020 and the Harford, Connecticut, office managing principal from 2000 to 2008.
Anthony is also credited with launching and spearheading Jackson Lewis' class actions and complex litigation group in 2006 and growing it into one of the largest class action practices in the country.
"We needed to beef up our class action capabilities so the firm asked me to lead that effort," Anthony said, in reference to his work on building that practice at Jackson Lewis. "We did a very nice job of conveying to companies that the expertise in employment law, coupled with the geographic platform, was a good fit to handle the cases that we were seeing."
A spokesperson for Jackson Lewis, reached Monday for comment on Anthony's departure, said in a statement "the firm wishes Will the best."
