Alana Ackels

Practice Areas

• Litigation

• Labor and Employment

Career

Co-licensed in Texas and California, Alana advises employers on minimizing risk, protecting their businesses, and navigating the multitude of state and federal laws governing the employer-employee relationship. She works with companies across all types of industries, including retail, hospitality and technology, and organizations that often have workforces distributed across the country. In recent years, she has developed a niche helping international businesses, with headquarters in jurisdictions as diverse as Australia and India, expand into U.S. markets.

Whether managing regulatory compliance issues for a startup or growing business, helping an employer with a risky termination or navigating a whistleblower action, Alana adeptly balances legal exposure and business priorities across the employment law spectrum. She prepares employment, confidentiality and noncompetition agreements; employee handbooks; and other policies that reduce legal exposure. Alana uses her vast trial experience to help companies avoid mistakes that often lead to litigation. She also prepares injury benefit plans for employers who choose to opt out of workers compensation in Texas and manages the plan rollout for companies that go nonsubscriber.

Employment Counseling and Training

Spending much of her time counseling clients on ways they can minimize risk in their handling of labor and employment matters, Alana assists employers in developing policies and procedures related to the workplace. She also advises on terminations of employment; conducts workplace culture and misconduct investigations; provides strategic advice for successful corporate transitions; manages reductions in force; coaches businesses on navigating leaves of absence; and conducts audits for compliance with wage and hour and other workplace laws. Alana helps companies negotiate and document executive employment agreements, including noncompete, severance and trade secret agreements. She regularly provides training seminars for management and human resources professionals on a wide range of labor and employment topics.

Employment Litigation

Alana has extensive experience litigating disputes in state and federal courts, including class-action litigation, as well as trying cases in arbitration proceedings. She routinely defends employers in claims involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation; wage and hour claims; trade secret litigation; and noncompete matters. Alana represents employers before various administrative agencies and in claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Housing Act (FHA), Title VII, Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Texas Labor Code. She also litigates complex business disputes, nonsubscriber negligence claims, certain employee benefit challenges under ERISA, and insurance coverage disputes.

Alana is conversational in Spanish.

Personal

Alana enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two daughters.

Languages Spoken

English

Spanish