My goal as an attorney is to help my clients achieve their goals, whether that means advising them on a decision or defending them in an investigation or litigation. I hope to be a trusted resource and partner to my clients however I can serve them best.
Brent Siler represents corporate clients in all areas of labor and employment law and commercial litigation. He has practiced for more than 20 years at top AmLaw 200 firms across the southeastern United States. He is licensed to practice in Tennessee, Mississippi, and the federal courts of Arkansas.
Within his labor and employment law practice, Brent advises employers on issues related to discrimination, harassment, wage and hour law, workplace safety, employee discipline, and leave and accommodation issues. He regularly drafts employment, contractor, and vendor agreements, as well as non-competition, non-solicitation, non-disclosure, and other agreements, policies, handbooks, and training materials. He has defended employers in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuits, as well as whistleblower, wage and hour, ERISA, defamation, workers’ compensation, and other employment-related litigation.
Brent also frequently advises clients on non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements. He frequently handles emergency petitions for injunctive relief related to the enforcement of these agreements, as well as injunctive relief for employers whose employees have made a threat of violence to be carried out in the workplace, and injunctive relief against former employees and others who defame clients online and on social media.
Brent represents clients before various state and federal administrative bodies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board. He represents clients in state and federal courts, administrative proceedings, and arbitrations. Brent has significant experience in defending wage and hour collective actions and class actions, as well as litigating discrimination, harassment, OSHA, non-competition, and employee benefits matters.
Brent is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed General Civil Mediator. He mediates both employment matters and commercial litigation matters.
Brent is asked by clients, peers, business groups, and bar associations to provide training on employment-related laws and is also a frequent speaker, presenter, and author on labor and employment issues.
In addition to his background in labor and employment litigation, Brent has significant experience in commercial litigation including contract litigation, business torts, non-compete litigation, civil rights claims, construction litigation, and medical malpractice cases.
Education
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
Community Involvement
- Christian Psychological Center, Board Member
Areas of Practice
Acknowledgements
- Best Lawyers in America®
- Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2019-2024
- Employment Law – Management, 2024
- Mid-South Super Lawyers®
- Employment & Labor, 2022
- Benchmark Litigation
- Labor & Employment Star, 2021
- Memphis Business Journal
- Best of the Bar, 2020
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Memphis Bar Association
- University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law - Adjunct Faculty, Legal Methods
- American Inns of Court, Leo Bearman, Sr. Chapter
- Leadership Academy, Fellow, 2006
- Represented a home health care employer in a collective action with a class of over two hundred class members related to the employer’s use of sleep time.
- Represented a temporary staffing company in a class action lawsuit brought by the EEOC alleging religious discrimination for refusal to assign a class of temporary workers because of their religious headwear.
- Represented a prison system in a class action lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by prisoners against female prison guards.
- Represented a logistics company in a seven hundred-member hybrid collective/class action involving allegations of improper pay deductions and failure to pay minimum wage.
- Represented employers in prosecuting and defending non-compete claims.
- Represented employers in injunctive proceedings in response to online defamation and harassment.
- Represented employers in labor arbitration and grievance proceedings.
- Represented and defended clients in all areas of employment litigation including: discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuits, non-compete litigation, wage and hour, collective actions, whistleblower claims, ERISA, defamation, and matters.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of employers in age, race and disability discrimination lawsuits in federal court.
- Obtained summary judgment in ERISA wrongful denial of benefit case in federal court.
- Secured “No Cause” findings on behalf of multiple employers in charges brought by the EEOC.
- Obtained injunctive relief on behalf of employers against former employees who made threats of violence to be carried out in the workplace.
- Represented employers in governmental investigations and/or audits by the USDOL and OSHA.
- Handled litigation-related disputes involving contracts, business torts, and non-compete agreements.
- Defended clients in medical malpractice personal injury, long-term care and aging services, insurance defense and civil rights claims.
- Successfully represented owner in construction arbitration involving termination of general contractor.
- Represented sureties in bond litigation and Miller Act claims.
- “Pistol Shoots Blanks in Appeals Court Decision on Workplace Service Animal Accommodation,” Adams and Reese L&E Client Alert, February 2024
- “Fifth Circuit Affirms Stay of CMS Vaccine Mandate for 14 States, Overrules Nationwide Stay,” Co-Author, December 2021
- “CMS Issues Far-Reaching COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Facilities,” Co-Author. November 2021
- “COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Update,” Tennessee Association for Home Care, Presenter, November 2021
- “Long-Term Care Facilities: OSHA Monitors Employer Weekly Reports to CMS,” Co-Author, January 2021
- “Attorneys’ 2016 Employment Law Update: Latest from the Tennessee Legislature and Courts.” Webinar Presenter, May 2016
- “Employers Beware: McDonald’s Memorandum Suggests that the NLRB Intends to Loosen the Standard for When Legally Separate Entities May Be Considered Joint Employers,” Co-Author, Vol. 2014, No. 11, September 2014