Michael Reiss
Partner
Mike Reiss is a nationally known trial lawyer, particularly in employment cases. Mike has successfully tried more than a dozen discrimination and wage and hour cases, including three class action trials. His successful defense of Boeing in a racial discrimination class action jury trial (Williams v. The Boeing Company) was recognized by The National Law Journal as a top 10 defense win of the year. He also frequently serves as a mediator and has served as a court-appointed special master in employment class actions. View his mediation bio here.
Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Employment Law Council, an invitation-only organization limited to the nation’s top labor and employment attorneys and in-house counsel. He has written and presented extensively on employment law and litigation topics for the American Bar Association, the American Employment Law Council, the National Employment Law Institute, and other similar organizations.
For more than 20 years, Chambers USA has recognized Mike as a leading employment trial attorney. In 2014, Mike was one of 10 attorneys nationwide named to the "Most Powerful Employment Attorneys Hall of Fame" by Human Resource Executive.
Mike's clients have included: Alaska Airlines, the American Red Cross, ARCO, AT&T, Bank of America, Boeing, Denny's, Home Depot, King County, the NFL, Nike, Pitney Bowes, Paccar, PEMCO, the Seattle Seahawks, The Seattle Times, Starbucks, Teledesic, the University of Puget Sound, and the Virginia Mason Medical Center.
Admitted to Practice
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Washington
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California
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U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
Education
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J.D., Yale Law School, 1968, cum laude
- Editor, Yale Law Journal
- Order of the Coif
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B.A., Harvard College, 1965, with high honors
Memberships & Affiliations
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- American Bar Association
- Board of Directors and Advisory Board, American Employment Law Council
- Advisory Board, National Employment Law Institute
- Program Director, National Institute for Trial Advocacy
- Instructor, Trial Advocacy, University of Washington School of Law, 1980-present
- Program Director, Team Leader and Faculty, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), 1975-present
Professional Recognition
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- Named to the "Most Powerful Employment Attorneys Hall of Fame" by Human Resource Executive magazine and Lawdragon, 2014
- Winner, "Top 10 Defense Wins of 2005," The National Law Journal, for Williams v. The Boeing Company
- Named one of "The 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" by Human Resource Executive magazine, published by Lawdragon, 2010-2013
- Named one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Labor & Employment (Washington) by Chambers USA, 2003-2020; Received "Band 1" ranking, 2012-2016; Received "Senior Statesmen" ranking, 2017-2020
- Selected by Best Lawyers as Seattle's "Lawyer of the Year" in Employment Law, 2019
- Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in Labor and Employment Law by Best Lawyers, 1993-present
- Selected to "Washington Super Lawyers," Thomson Reuters, 1999-2020
- Awarded "2013 Top Rated Lawyer" in Labor & Employment by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell
- Fellow, College of Labor & Employment Lawyers
Background
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- Trial Skills Training Instructor, Washington State Bar Association and similar organizations, 1980-present
- Trial Advocacy, University of Washington School of Law, 1980-present
- Program Director, Team Leader and Faculty, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) 1975-present
- Regional Attorney, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Seattle, 1979-1986
- Law Professor, University of Southern California Law Center, 1968-1979