Lani Blake

Named a Texas Rising Star by Super Lawyers® every year since 2020, Lani is an award-winning legal writer and oral advocate who focuses her practice on all facets of labor and employment law.

As a litigator, Lani defends employers in state and federal courts, and before administrative agencies, against employee disputes, including claims of workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and individual and class action wage and hour matters. Lani also represents employers in high-stakes cases involving theft and misappropriation of company confidential information and trade secrets.

As a counselor, Lani advises clients on issues arising in the employment life cycle, such as hiring and training, leave and disability management under the FMLA and ADA, performance management and discipline, and layoffs and terminations. She also drafts key materials for employers, including employment agreements, offer letters. restrictive covenants, handbooks and policies, and separation and severance agreements.

Employment Litigation

• Defended multinational biotech manufacturing company against claims of disability and age discrimination, harassment and retaliation
• Defended national waste management company against claims of race, national origin, and age discrimination and harassment
• Obtained dismissal of charges of race, sex, national origin and age discrimination, harassment and retaliation filed with the EEOC, Texas Workforce Commission, and other comparable state and local agencies
• Defended numerous national oilfield service companies in class and collective actions involving allegations of unpaid overtime under various state laws and the FLSA
• Represented national inspection and commercial cleaning company in lawsuit involving misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information by former employees
• Obtained temporary and permanent injunctive relief on behalf of petroleum laboratory and testing company in lawsuit involving breach of employee non-solicitation and non-competition agreements and theft of trade secrets
• Obtained judgment against former employee for breach of tuition reimbursement agreement on behalf of a national oilfield service company
• Successfully defended national tank inspection company in response to Texas Anti-SLAPP allegations asserted under the Texas Citizens' Participation Act

Employment Advice

Lani regularly provides strategic advice to employers on matters relating to:

• The enforceability of restrictive covenants, including non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements under various state laws
• Proper pay practices and employee classification under the FLSA and state law equivalents
• The interactive process and employee requests for reasonable accommodations under the ADA as well as leave issues arising under the FMLA
• Sexual harassment prevention, investigation and response
• Individual terminations and group layoffs, reductions in workforce and furloughs
• Employment-related issues in the face of COVID-19, including the benefits provided by the CARES Act and Family First Coronavirus Response Act
• Specific policies and full employment handbooks for local, national and global companies across various industries

Prior Advocacy and Leadership

As a law student, Lani participated in South Texas College of Law's world-renowned varsity advocacy program under the late T. Gerald Treece, where she was recognized as a national champion oral advocate and award-winning legal brief writer. During this time, practitioners and judges selected Lani as a top speaker and brief writer against law students nationwide. Two years in a row (2017 and 2018), the American Society of Legal Writers selected Lani's appellate brief as the second-best legal brief in the country.